Snikiddy Snacks – Review [Video]

The people over at Snikiddy contacted me and asked if I would try their product.  I am sometimes leery of “healthy” snacks that are not actually healthy at all.  After looking at their website, I decided these snacks could be a healthy alternative and decided to try a few samples.

After the samples arrived, I knew exactly WHO I needed to get to try these for an honest opinion.  KIDS!  Kids will tell it like it is…no holds barred.  So, I asked my sisters three kids to come over and try the snacks and give their opinion.  Watch this video to see what they thought!

Obviously, they LOVED them.  It was so funny after the taping ended because Hannah said, “I really wanted to NOT like one.  On those shows on TV like Cupcake Wars, they always DON’T like one.  I was hoping there was one I didn’t like so it could be more like TV!”  Hilarious!

Now, for all the fun nutritional facts.  We will start with Hannah’s favorite, Eat Your Vegetables™:

Tastes Like a Dorito…but healthy!

Made with a blend of sweet potatoes, carrots, and navy beans.Excellent source of Vitamin A and more fiber and protein than most other snack products.Gluten and wheat freeFree of trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and preservatives.4 Weight Watchers points plus per serving.Available in these flavors: Sea Salt, Sour Cream & Onion, Jalapeño Ranch.Next, we will talk about Haleigh’s favorite, the All-Natural Baked Fries: Yumm-O Fries!

Made with real potatoes, corn, and cheese.Contain 50% less fat than regular potato chipsGluten and wheat free.Free of artificial colors or preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, or cholesterol.Baked in a nut-free facility.3 Weight Watchers points plus per serving.Available in these flavors: Sea Salt, Cheddar Cheese, Original Seasoning, Bold Buffalo, Southwest Cheddar, Barbeque and Classic Ketchup.Now on to Hampton’s favorite, the All-Natural Cheese Puffs:Baked with real cheese and corn.Contain 50% less fat than potato chips.They are gluten and wheat free, without the drawbacks of other puff snacks.No artificial colors or preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, or cholesterol.3 Weight Watchers points plus per serving (One serving is 1/4 of a bag so it’s a big serving!)Available in these flavors: Grilled Cheese Puffs and Mac n’ Cheese Puffs

My husband and I both LOVED these snacks too!  His favorite was the cheese puffs followed by the fries.  I loved them all and couldn’t decide which I liked the best.  I am excited to try the Bold Buffalo fries.  Those sound like they would be right up our alley!

Would you like to purchase them in your area?  They are available in select stores around the country.  If you go to their website, you can put in your zip-code and it will tell you what locations are in your area.  I found out that these are sold not too far from where I live.  You better believe I will be heading out to stock up on these and all their yummy flavors.

Instead of buying them, do you want to try and WIN some samples for free?  Stay tuned for a giveaway soon where YOU could win some to try.

Until then, head on out and buy them because they are yummy!  Have you heard of these before?  I recently saw them in World Market store near my house.  What is your favorite healthy snack that tastes yummy?

My name is Jennifer, I’m 35 and I currently live in a suburb outside of Atlanta. I live with my husband, Jason and Shi-tzu, Maggie. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.
My full time job is teaching elementary school. My part time job is private tutoring after school for grades K-6. I have been on my weight loss journey my entire life but just began to take it seriously two years ago when I decided it was time to start a family. I didn’t want to be one of those people who others look and and say, “Is she pregnant or just really fat?” At the rate I was going, that question would certainly be asked. So, two years ago I joined Weight Watchers. Now, closing in on losing 100 pounds, my life is healthier and I am happier. Now…bring on the baby!
My blog is here for you to be inspired, learn something new, and hear all about all new products I try. Join me on this weight loss journey as I go through ups and downs, good and bad, and continue to take it one day at a time!

View the original article here

Jobs? Revenue for Government? We Can Help

A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds two of the top three issues that Americans care about the most in this election year are … jobs and reducing the federal budget deficit. Check and check. America’s oil and natural gas industry can help with both. Respondents were asked to weigh the importance of a number of issues (see chart), and 92 percent said creating good jobs is “extremely/very important.” On cutting the federal deficit the figure was 86 percent. Jobs and revenue to the government – we can help.

With the right policies in place – increasing access to American natural resources, the right approach to energy regulation, encouraging energy investments and more – our industry could create 1.4 million jobs by 2030. Here’s how the Wood Mackenzie energy consulting firm charts the potential jobs growth:

Leadership is needed to make this happen. Industry is doing its part – investing in America – and it’s willing to do more.

As for tax revenue for government, to help with the deficit, Wood Mackenzie estimates a pro-energy development strategy could generate a total of more than $800 billion by 2030:

Again, in a struggling economy the oil and natural gas industry is adding jobs and supporting communities while generating revenues for government. Energy-driven economic growth that’s being seen in North Dakota, Texas, Pennsylvania and other states can be realized in other places with a true all-of-the-above (and below) energy strategy.

View the original article here

A Question of Leadership

On energy and jobs, we need leadership. Presidential leadership. We hear about an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, but we are not seeing those words followed by substantive actions to expand and strengthen U.S. domestic production. At the same time we need leadership to capitalize on the oil and natural gas industry’s demonstrated ability to create jobs, millions of them – and billions in revenue to the government. We’re sitting on a lottery ticket, and we need to make sure we don’t squander this opportunity for our country.

During a conference call with reporters on API’s new “American Energy Works” campaign, President and CEO Jack Gerard challenged the administration to back its words with policies that help increase domestic oil and natural gas exploration and development.

Gerard said the United States is on the verge of a “new energy paradigm” in which North American energy resources are developed – in the process creating jobs and making the U.S. energy self-sufficient, perhaps within a dozen years. Again, it comes down to leadership. Gerard:

“It’s a game-changing opportunity we’ve never seen in our lifetimes. … The president says he’s for all of the above, but when you look beneath the surface the president’s policies, practices and regulations have actually discouraged production of oil and natural gas.”

“American Energy Works” tells the stories of a number of the people in the oil and natural gas industry, which supports 9.2 million jobs. These are the faces and voices of people benefiting from well-paying jobs, more of which could be created with an energy approach that’s all of the above – and below. Gerard:

“The oil and natural gas industry has been a major job creator at a time when overall U.S. job creation has stagnated. It has created thousands of jobs while other industries have been losing jobs or, at best, holding steady.”

The great news is this industry is ready to do more. With the right leadership and policies, it could create 1.4 million jobs by 2030. It’s an industry that’s investing in America, doubling down on her future. Our companies claimed five of the top 11 spots on the Progressive Policy Institute’s recent list of the top 25 nonfinancial U.S.-based companies, ranked by their 2011 U.S. capital spending. There can be more investment, more jobs, more energy – with the right leadership.

It’s not going to come from those running unrealistic “beyond” campaigns to halt the development of fossil fuels, including oil and natural gas. Gerard:

“They say we can stop using oil right now. If this campaign is beyond anything it’s beyond sense. These groups need to be asked, what is their solution to power America’s economy? … Their campaign would put a halt to the creation of jobs that have been a lifeline to thousands of working Americans. It would hurt people who need work and those looking for new opportunities.”

It might set us back centuries. So, a pair of questions:

Given America’s ample reserves of oil and natural gas, onshore and offshore, will there be leadership to develop our energy wealth or policies that keep that wealth off limits, unavailable?For those who oppose oil and natural gas: What’s your plan? What’s your plan to run an economy that currently gets more than 60 percent of its energy from oil and natural gas and which is projected by government to get nearly 60 percent of its energy from oil and gas over the next couple of decades?    

Gerard:

“Our industry is going to continue investing in America. And it’s going to continue to support common-sense energy policies that encourage development of all of our nation’s energy resources. That’s the only way we’ll be able to meet our future energy needs, supply affordable energy to our economy and, most importantly at this critical time, put people back to work.”

View the original article here

Act Like a Skinny Person

I cannot begin to tell you how much the emails, comments, and words of encouragement mean to me after yesterday’s post.  I know we ALL have slip-ups and it seems like lots of us have had a few lately.  I am so glad that when I continue to put myself out there (even though sometimes I don’t want to), you guys are blessed from it!  This morning, I got a text with this picture:

Isn’t she the cutest?

The text also said, “Track those points Swaffy!”

How could I NOT track after that cutie pie said to?!?

On a more serious note, it seems like many of us are in a slump lately.  At our meeting on Friday, my leader reminded us all that we need to “Act like a skinny person!”

How does a skinny person act?  Think about it for a minute.  Think of all the skinny people that you associate with.  Let’s look at some behaviors of skinny people in my life:

First, how do they eat?  Well, they eat very little.  When they are full, they actually STOP eating.  Even if they haven’t had dessert yet.  Crazy, right?!?If they have a slip up, do they beat themselves up day after day for it?  Well, I am sure SOME of them do but I think most just put on their big kid panties and move on.  I doubt they talk to themselves for days/weeks like I have.  I doubt they say how stupid they were to eat that.  I doubt they say they are fat and will never be skinny.  Nope, they move on.Next, what if they do overeat let’s say at lunch, what do they do?  Well, they have a very light dinner or might even skip dinner altogether.  What?!?   Not eat a meal?  No!Also, if they get off track for one meal an say eat too many calories, they IMMEDIATELY get back on track.  As in, the next second.  They don’t say, “Forget it, I will start over next week!”Lastly, if they have too much dessert or eat too many calories, they make up for it with extra exercise.  They will work out harder, or longer, or maybe even twice that day to burn a few more calories than normal.

This week, I want to challenge you (and myself) to act like a skinny person.  Get right back on track immediately after a slip up, exercise more, and no negative self talk.  We might not be skinny people but we can sure act like one.

Love this!

Did I forget any behaviors of skinny people?  If so, leave me a comment with how skinny people in your life act!

Photo Credit

My name is Jennifer, I’m 35 and I currently live in a suburb outside of Atlanta. I live with my husband, Jason and Shi-tzu, Maggie. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.
My full time job is teaching elementary school. My part time job is private tutoring after school for grades K-6. I have been on my weight loss journey my entire life but just began to take it seriously two years ago when I decided it was time to start a family. I didn’t want to be one of those people who others look and and say, “Is she pregnant or just really fat?” At the rate I was going, that question would certainly be asked. So, two years ago I joined Weight Watchers. Now, closing in on losing 100 pounds, my life is healthier and I am happier. Now…bring on the baby!
My blog is here for you to be inspired, learn something new, and hear all about all new products I try. Join me on this weight loss journey as I go through ups and downs, good and bad, and continue to take it one day at a time!

View the original article here

Enter Innovation: Improving the Fracking Process

One of the factors involved in pulling energy from shale through hydraulic fracturing is how much water is needed – typically 2 to 4 million gallons per well. Though that’s not as much water as it sounds (electrical generation for the Susquehanna River Basin requires nearly 150 million gallons per day), it’s a public concern. More on water usage at the FracFocus website.

Water also is an industry concern. It isn’t free, and once the well has been stimulated with fracking, there’s waste water that has to be disposed of or recycled. Enter innovation. A number of companies are tackling the issue.

Schlumberger’s HiWAY flow-channel technology claims to use less water, with greater effectiveness:

“HiWAY technology fundamentally changes the way proppant fractures generate conductivity. The first technique of its kind, HiWAY fracturing creates open pathways inside the fracture, enabling hydrocarbons to flow through the stable channels rather than the proppant. This optimizes connectivity between the reservoir and the wellbore—resulting in infinite fracture conductivity.”

Other companies are marketing waterless alternatives, using other agents to apply pressure to the shale – producing microscopic fractures and introducing sand or other proppants to keep the cracks open so the oil or natural gas can drain from the shale and be collected.

Baker-Hughes has developed VaporFrac, combining a high-pressure nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide gas stream and an ultra-lightweight proppant slurry:

“This method safely creates a flow stream that is more than 90% gas, significantly reducing post-frac cleanup. The high energy of the gas phase makes for easy flowback. There’s a quicker tie into pipelines.”

GASFRAC Energy Services’ liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) gel is primarily propane, which the company says has a number of advantages in fracking:

“Since our gel regains permeability with the hydrocarbons we stimulate, we have the ability to recover 100% of the fracturing fluids within days of stimulation. This creates economic and environmental benefits reducing clean-up, waste disposal and post-job truck traffic, while creating higher initial production levels.”

No doubt, other companies, other energy innovators, are at work on this question. The point here is to show the kind of invention that’s being sparked by necessity surrounding water and fracking. Businesses are taking on this issue and others associated with energy development with the goal of making processes better, safer, more efficient and more environmentally friendly. When we hear about their stories, we’ll pass them along.

View the original article here

American Energy Works: Jill

Jill is a district manager for Total Safety, a company that provides service solutions for various aspects of the oil and natural gas industry, as well as power-generation and industrial markets. For her, the industry is about future job security: “It’s really an industry that’s not going away.”

Her video:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

View the original article here

Bakken Shale: Supplying Energy, Supporting Communities

Check out a couple of new videos from North Dakota in which Hess employees and others talk about how energy development in the Bakken Shale formation is changing lives and growing the state’s economy.

Part 1:

Part 2:

The narrative isn’t complicated. As Hess’ Steven Fretland notes in the first video, the Bakken is believed to hold between 8 billion and 40 billion barrels of oil reserves. Companies developing the energy resources need workers, and workers need places to live and services to support their lives. Fretland, who was raised in North Dakota, says Bakken energy is reversing historic trends:

“Younger kids, after they left, you know, you hated to see them go but then they come back and they decide … it’s where they’re going to have their home and raise a family and hopefully retire with the industry.”

In the second video, Hess’ Steve McNally says hydraulic fracturing that has revolutionized energy development is responsible for North Dakota’s jobs boom:

“The impact on the North Dakota area and the U.S. in the short term is numerous jobs. There’s a tremendous amount of employment opportunities here. For anyone who wants to work, you can get a job.”

The point, underscored in this new industry spot, is that fracking has made an old frontier state like North Dakota a new energy frontier. Previously unreachable shale resources are now available in abundance through responsible development. Learn more at Energy From Shale.org.

View the original article here

EPA’s Costly, Unnecessary Soot Proposal

EPA continues to act tone deaf to the real-world needs of U.S. businesses and regular Americans. Its particle standards proposal issued this week is a good example of the kind of investment-squelching overregulation that ultimately could hurt the country’s energy future.

With the country’s air continuing to improve under the existing fine-particle soot standard, EPA proposed tightening it. The rule is scheduled to be finalized in December. Howard Feldman, API’s directory of regulatory and scientific affairs, says the rule’s benefits aren’t worth its costs:

“Air quality will continue to improve dramatically under the current government standards, but EPA’s proposal could substantially increase costs to states, municipalities, businesses and ultimately consumers without justified benefits. We are concerned that it could come at a significant economic cost and lost investments and limit our ability to produce the energy our nation needs.”

Between 2000 and 2010 concentrations of fine-particle soot fell by 27 percent, according to EPA. Feldman says three-fourths of Americans today live in areas where air quality meets today’s standards, and that the trend will continue – which suggests the new standard is unnecessary.

Feldman also says EPA based its proposal on “faulty scientific analysis,” that important data have been ignored and some of its purported findings are actually misinterpretations. How tightly the standards are set is a policy judgment. Because there is no bright line to guide the standard setting, the impacts of the standards matter. Feldman:

“A more stringent rule will discourage economic investment in counties that fail to meet new federal standards.  It’s in our interest to have both clean air and a vibrant domestic economy. However, the new standards would put many regions out of attainment, and companies considering a place to build a plant or refinery could perceive non-attainment as non-investment.”

Again, in the context of an economy trying to regain its footing, EPA is tossing out banana peels – with potential costs on a number of fronts that ultimately will hit real people. This economic anti-stimulus also is an unnecessary energy impediment.

It illustrates why, if we’re serious about a secure energy future, a common-sense regulatory structure is needed. By that we mean a regulatory process that’s open to all and based on sound science and legitimate cost-benefit analysis. By that standard EPA’s proposal falls well short.

View the original article here

Collaboration, Not Confrontation with EPA

EPA’s big study of the impact of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water is due in 2014, but an interim report might surface as early as the end of the year. Needed is focused, scientifically solid research that that will advance public discussion of shale energy development that has so much potential for our economy and future energy security.

Unfortunately, EPA’s study plan has deficiencies that ultimately could sap the integrity of the study’s findings. That’s one of the conclusions in a new analysis by the Battelle Memorial Institute. Stephanie Meadows, API upstream senior policy advisor, shared some of the study findings in a conference call with reporters:

“Battelle’s analysis of the plan, which we are releasing today, reinforces many of our previously stated concerns and raises some new ones. It finds deficiencies in the rigor, funding, focus and stakeholder inclusiveness of EPA’s plan. … We’re not calling on EPA to stop its study. We’re calling on them to do it right.”

API and America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) commissioned the Battelle study after EPA declined to engage with industry in a collaborative review of hydraulic fracturing. Battelle’s Bernard Metzger said his broad-based multidisciplinary team of engineers, oil and natural gas experts, toxicologists and others examined EPA’s study plan to determine its soundness. The findings include:

EPA is reaching beyond the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water resources, which was its charge from Congress, to broader oil and natural gas industry production activities.The expanded scope suggests there will be added complexity, risk, and uncertainty in EPA’s study, raising the level of difficulty in ensuring a scientifically rigorous result.Site data collected from companies comes from the years 2006-2010, making it likely some data in the final 2014 report could be nearly 10 years old. Changes at company sites in the intervening years likely will “render the data obsolete for the purposes of the study.”Case studies were selected from a limited and statistically biased pool and lack necessary baseline information which may result in incorrect and flawed conclusions. The plan suffers from a lack of “significant” industry collaboration, given industry’s extensive experience and expertise in hydraulic fracturing and associated technologies.

Metzger said gaps in EPA’s study planning can impact data quality:

“Quality cannot be built into the back end of a project through rigorous review; it must be built into each step of a scientifically rigorous process to ensure that the end product is high quality data that is defensible and achieves the study goals.”

ANGA’s Amy Farrell:

“We continue to believe a well-designed, scientifically rigorous study of hydraulic fracturing will confirm our industry’s ongoing commitment to safe and responsible development and that communities don’t have to trade the protection of the environment for the many economic, energy security and clean air benefits natural gas offers. We hope (EPA) will not only consider additional efforts to collaborate with the industry and other key stakeholders moving forward, but that they will carefully review the (Battelle) report and consider the critiques and recommendations for improvement and make adjustments as appropriate.”

View the original article here

Made in America: For a Sustainable Energy Future

Access, common-sense regulation and a governmental approach that encourages energy investments: Each one is integral to an American-made, more secure energy future. Getting there will require continued improvements in efficiency and investments in renewable energy – two areas where the oil and natural gas industry has been a leader. This is the fourth recommendation in API’s recent report to the two political parties’ platform committees.

Today, the U.S. uses about half as much energy for every dollar of GDP as it did in 1980, according to the Energy Information Administration:

Efficiency helps energy companies manage costs, which in turn makes them more competitive and allows them to bring more affordable energy products to consumers.  Efficiency also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Industry is committed to technologies that help the environment, investing $71 billion in developments that reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 2000 and 2010 – far more than the federal government ($43 billion) and nearly as much as the rest of domestic private industry combined ($74 billion).

This is what energy companies do. They produce the oil and natural gas that run our economy now and which will continue to fuel it in the future. They work on efficiencies that will make our energy go further. They look to the future for additional resource options that will be necessary to complete the energy picture.

The question is whether governmental policies will or hinder these efforts. Some think the path to our energy future should be selected by Washington, using the tax code to preordain winners and losers. They think an industry sector that contributed nearly a half-trillion dollars to the economy in 2010, which already sends $86 million a day to the U.S. Treasury, should be taxed more.

The wrongheadedness of this path was detailed in a Wood Mackenzie study last fall, which compared the likely results of pro-energy development policies with policies leading to higher energy taxes:

With a pro-development approach, America’s oil and natural gas companies can add jobs, increase energy supply and generate more tax revenue for government. Higher taxes on our industry will likely lose jobs, decrease tax revenue and result in less energy production.

The United States has tremendous energy resources to support and grow our economy and meet the challenges of the future. With the right vision and leadership we can stride into the future confidently – as befits an energy-rich nation.

View the original article here

Another Study ‘Showing’ No Contamination from Fracking

Where to begin in a review of Pro Publica’s article on new research into the migration of subterranean brine to shallow water above? The inflammatory, overreaching headline? The leap from Duke University’s study to conclusions suggesting to the public that hydraulic fracturing is polluting drinking water?

Let’s start there. On that point the article is self-rebutting. See the fourth paragraph:

"No drilling chemicals were detected in the (shallow) water, and there was no correlation between where the natural brine was detected and where drilling takes place."

Then, near the end of the article:

"Nevertheless, (Robert) Jackson, one of the study's authors, said he still considers it unlikely that frack fluids and injected man-made waste are migrating into drinking water supplies. If that were happening, those contaminants would be more likely to appear in his groundwater samples, he said. His group is continuing its research into how the natural brine might have travelled, and how long it took to rise to the surface. 'There is a real time uncertainty,' he said. 'We don't know if this happens over a couple of years, or over millennia.'"

As for the study itself, Jackson and his team say they found that naturally occurring brine migrates upward to shallower depths. They say the risk of the migration could be greater in areas that have undergone hydraulic fracturing. Yet, there’s this from the study’s introductory summary:

“The occurrences of saline water do not correlate with the location of shale-gas wells and are consistent with reported data before rapid shale-gas development in the region …”

Energy In Depth has solid analysis on the study, here. Highlights:

The study fails (as Jackson notes above) to establish whether the migration occurs over 10 years or 10 million years. Without that, it’s impossible to determine whether the phenomenon is cause for concern.If brine is traveling up from thousands of feet below the surface, why haven’t the pathways Duke’s researchers identify allowed natural gas in the Marcellus region to leak out and disappear over time?There’s no discussion of whether the Marcellus Shale – which is largely a dry region with “virtually no free water,” according to Penn State’s Terry Engelder – even contains enough brinewater to leak.

Engelder, a Marcellus expert who was asked by the researchers to review their work, notes a number of questions the study leaves unanswered, reducing its usefulness. He writes:

"My review is predicated on the objective of your paper which is stated as a search for '...specific areas of shale-gas development in northeastern Pennsylvania that are at increased risk for contamination of shallow drinking water resources with deeper formation brines...' (the last sentence of your abstract). The term, risk, suggests that your paper veers from a conventional geology paper and enters into the realm of science-based advocacy or if you like, science policy."

Engelder is on target there. Unfortunately, the academics, wittingly or unwittingly, produced a study that is easily morphed into a siren call by opponents of natural gas production. Pro Publica’s article is Exhibit A. Exhibit B is a Bloomberg News story under this headline: “Pennsylvania Fracking Can Put Water at Risk, Study Finds” – despite the fact the study found no evidence of such a risk.

Words like “can,” “may” and “might” camouflage the point that the study didn’t find a correlation between the location of shale-gas wells and occurrences of saline water. To suggest otherwise in a news article is disingenuous and counterproductive in the national discussion of energy from shale.

As Engelder notes, the study is a platform from which advocates can mislead. On this story, The Associated Press got it right, focusing its report on what the study showed: “Gas drilling in northeastern Pennsylvania did not contaminate nearby drinking water wells with salty water, which is a byproduct of the drilling.”

View the original article here

Friday Five: Bike Accessories I Want

Every time I look for something on Amazon I end up getting sucked into looking at new things for my bike. I have a wish list of bike accessories I think are cool and want to purchase for my bike. If you bike maybe you will like them too!

I love me some hello kitty. I want a bell for my bike and this would make me happy every time I look at it.

I had a pair of similar click lights which were awesome because they were so easy to put on and move and switch between bikes. I’m not sure where they went so I need a new pair so I can ride at night again!

I like the look of wire baskets rather than wicker and also like the idea of it being quick release since I don’t want a basket on my bike 24/7.

I think this would go perfectly with my hello kitty bell, right? Perhaps then no one would steal my bike because they would think I’m too much of a badass who would track them down! Plus, more visibility for night time bike rides which I love.

I’m only half joking about wanting this. I do want to get a bike trailer at some point and though I probably won’t get this one I like the idea of taking JuJu around for a ride. It would be awesome to be able to go places with her without a car or walking!

And there ya have it! Maybe I’ll get all these for Christmas for my next super cool bike! ;)

Related posts:

Bike To Work DayA Day of Bike CommutingGood Thing I Like To BikeBack on the BikeBike Ride To The Airport

View the original article here

Energy’s Game-Changing Face

A Wall Street Journal report [subscription required] quotes energy analysts who say America will cut its Middle East oil imports in half by the end of the decade and could become oil-independent by 2035, thanks to North American production. 

To those who see the unique chance for the United States to increase domestic oil and natural gas production and fundamentally change this country’s energy equation, we say welcome to the fold. The Journal’s sources are saying things similar to what others have said, including Wood Mackenzie’s analysis last fall, Citi’s 2020 Energy Outlook released this spring and this week’s study by Harvard’s Kennedy School. Of course, along with the energy, there’s job creation and tax revenue generated for government treasuries. All good.

Look at the analyses and there’s a common thread: hydraulic fracturing. It’s the game-changer for the United States, unlocking oil and natural gas resources from shale and other tight rock formations. It is responsible for the rewriting of U.S. natural gas reserve estimates, and its use in oil development is expanding in North Dakota, Texas and other states.

USA Today highlights the fracking boom in a big article, here.  There’s a neat infographic with the story, detailing some hydraulic fracturing basics. The piece’s main thrust is the fantastic economic and energy opportunities afforded by fracking, as well as some of the challenges:

“Even as the price of natural gas dropped to around $2 for a thousand cubic feet this warm winter — half last year's price — states caught up in the boom have enjoyed an employment windfall when jobs nationally have been hard to come by. Since 2009, Pennsylvania has 38,900 natural resources jobs, up 72%; North Dakota has 21,900 jobs, a 172% surge, according to Federal Reserve data. These numbers don't include jobs added to service the fracking industry — everything from selling workers donuts to making steel pipes used in the process.”

That’s what dynamic growth, driven by energy derived from hydraulic fracturing, looks like. The article goes on:

“For many others, the good times are rolling. Welders employed in the natural gas industry average $28.48 an hour, 6 bucks more an hour than other industries pay, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. ‘We're still hiring,’ says David Schultz, a plant manager for Forum Energy Technologies' metal fabrication plant in Clearfield, Pa. … About half the fracking well tanks that are manufactured or fixed at the plant are bound for Ohio and the Utica shale, Schultz says.”

No question, there are challenges, as the article notes. Traffic, noise, stretched public services, scarce hotel space, long lines at restaurants. People are concerned the boom will go bust, although industry leaders repeatedly stress the long-term nature of their shale investment. Ohio State University agricultural extension agent Mike Hogan:

“The number of trucks on the roads is incredible. But the money is more than welcome here.”

That seems to be the dominant attitude in other shale states. Energy development is bringing dramatic growth that occasionally tests local infrastructures. But it’s also lifting local, regional and state economies – taking up what Citi’s Daniel Ahn, one of the authors of its energy outlook, describes as slack in our economy. “This couldn’t happen at a better time,” Ahn says.

View the original article here

Caution Warranted as E15 Launches in Kansas

From Kansas we hear that a gas station owner in Lawrence has become the first in the country to offer E15 fuel – gasoline with 15 percent ethanol instead of the 10 percent blend that’s standard around the U.S. According to the New York Times, Scott Zaremba may expand E15 to more of his eight stations.

Before motorists in the Lawrence area rush down to fill up, they might take the time to check their vehicle warranties. Even though the EPA has approved E15 for cars and light trucks from model year 2001 forward, a Coordinating Research Council study showed that the fuel can cause engine damage. Automobile manufacturers have said vehicle warranties will not cover damage from E15. Bob Greco, API downstream group director:

“We need to press the pause button on EPA’s rush to allow higher amounts of ethanol in our gasoline. The new fuel could lead to engine damage in more than 5 million vehicles on the road today and could void the manufacturer’s warranty.”

Greco said E15 also could damage engines in boats, recreational vehicles and lawn equipment. Consumers should follow the fueling recommendations in their owner’s manuals and carefully read all gasoline pump labels before refueling, he said.

Potential problems with E15 – which is being advanced as a way to help meet volume requirements set out by the Renewable Fuels Standard – were discussed at a hearing on Capitol Hill this week. API President and CEO Jack Gerard criticized EPA’s rush to push E15 into the marketplace:

“EPA should not have proceeded with E15, especially before a thorough evaluation was conducted to assess the full range of short- and long-term impacts of increasing the amount of ethanol in gasoline on the environment, on engine and vehicle performance, and on consumer safety.”

Greco said consumer protection is paramount:

“Our first priority should be protecting consumers and the investments they’ve made in their automobiles. EPA has an obligation to base this decision on science and not on a political agenda.”

View the original article here

American Energy Works: Bob

ConocoPhillips’ Bob Morton is chief materials scientist at the company’s technology center in Bartlesville, Okla. The chemical that allowed development of low-sulfur gasoline and diesel – without sacrificing octane and without increasing the cost of the fuel – was developed there, he says.

Coming up with environmentally friendly consumer products is Morton’s mission:

“What I really love about my job is sometimes I’m given the opportunity to see something that nobody has seen before. And when those moments happen truly, those are the things that I think are the most wonderful parts of doing the job.”

Check out Bob’s story:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

View the original article here

Energy: It’s About Jobs

The latest jobs report, showing the creation of just 80,000 new jobs in June, is refocusing the political debate on the economy. How meager is 80,000 jobs? Well, according to UPI that’s “not even enough to keep up with growth in the working-age population,” which last month grew by 191,000. Meanwhile, a Rasmussen survey reports that only 31 percent of likely voters say the president is doing a good or excellent job handling economic issues.

Short analysis: It’s about jobs. Good news: It doesn’t have to be hard.

Energy-related job booms in North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and other states are showing what’s possible – in terms of jobs, tax-revenue generation and associated economic growth – when energy development leads the way. The Institute for Energy Research’s Robert Bradley Jr., in an article for Oilprice.com:

"In North Dakota, where drillers are producing crude oil from the Bakken Shale, workers are finding jobs offering wages that are significantly higher than the national average. Truck drivers are being paid $80,000 a year to start. Some workers on oil rigs are being paid six figures. And yet many jobs are going begging. According to the mayor of Williston, 'A lot of jobs get filled every day, but it’s like for every job you fill, another job and a half opens up.' In April, North Dakota had a jobless rate of 3.0 percent, the lowest in the country."

Additional detail:

In Pennsylvania, Bradley writes, state analysis projects jobs for drill operators will grow nearly 85 percent this year (compared to sub-3 percent growth otherwise in the state).Expansion is occurring in Texas’ Eagle Ford shale play, Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale, Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale and other energy-rich rock formations, “increasing domestic energy supplies, making energy more affordable, and spawning subsidiary investments in the private sector creating additional jobs.”A steel plant in Ohio is adding 200 jobs to produce more drill pipe.A planned ethane plant in Texas is expected to create 400 jobs.

Bradley:

"These jobs are being created by companies, not the federal government. And they are based on 'made in the USA' technologies that have the potential to greatly increase nation’s energy security and alter the world’s balance of power. As U.S. oil and natural gas supplies increase, some experts believe American energy independence is on the horizon."

On his blog, John R. Hanger connects energy production and employment:

"Jobs are a major product of that commerce and energy production. The 5 biggest energy producing states all have unemployment rates below the national average, but the same cannot be said about the 5 states producing the least energy." 

Meanwhile, Canada, which a few years ago staked its economic revitalization on energy, is looking for U.S. workers to fill anticipated job slots in Alberta. The Edmonton Economic Development Corporation expects a shortage of 114,000 workers in the coming months and has set up the aptly named opportunityawaits.com website to promote job openings. One U.S. veterans group is reaching out to former military personnel and active-duty soldiers who soon will transition to civilian life, encouraging them to consider oil sands and Keystone XL pipeline jobs in Canada. Fox News has a story, here. Again, the point is to recognize the dynamic economic power of the energy stimulus.

No question, U.S. jobs figures for June suggest a still-struggling economy. The administration says it’s not to blame, that there are limits to what a president can do to change the national economic trajectory. Indeed, a president has limited options – so perhaps the first move is to not stand in the way of growth.

Energy is a proven job creator, a shining sector in the weak economy. But the administration is making energy expansion harder, not easier. It is delaying construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and it is restricting offshore energy development. Its permitting policies in the Gulf of Mexico have suppressed production there, costing jobs and economic opportunity throughout the region. It is sending confusing messages on hydraulic fracturing, the shale technology that is unlocking America’s ample energy potential.

America’s oil and natural gas companies are creating good jobs and can create even more. With the right policies this industry can add 1 million new jobs before the end of the decade. Here’s a blueprint for an American-made energy policy.  It’s energy, it’s jobs and it’s within our reach.

View the original article here

EPA’s Unjustified Particulate Matter Proposal

Three good reasons EPA should shelve a proposal to tighten its air pollution standard governing particulate matter:

Science doesn’t justify it.Current control programs are working.A more stringent standard could harm jobs and economic growth.

EPA is scheduled to hold public hearings on its PM 2.5 standard today in Philadelphia and Sacramento – part of a commenting period that runs into August. The proposal, which is to be finalized by the end of the year, would tighten the standard from 15 micrograms per cubic meter to 12 or 13 micrograms.

API’s Howard Feldman, director of regulatory and scientific affairs, discussed the proposal during a conference call with reporters:

“Changing the standard should be supported by clear scientific analysis. The science in this case cannot demonstrate a proven ‘cause and effect’ between levels below the current standard and health consequences. In part, this is because in EPA’s analysis it failed to adequately address confounding factors. EPA also assumed rather than demonstrated a linear relationship between pollution and health effects, concluding that harm to health must occur even at very low levels.”

Feldman, who was to deliver testimony in Philadelphia, said a tighter standard could result in higher costs for providing and using energy, meaning fewer businesses would be created, fewer would expand and fewer workers would be hired. Feldman:

“Existing control programs are working. According to EPA, between 2000 and 2010, concentrations of PM 2.5 in the air fell by 27 percent. As a result, more than three-fourths of Americans today live in areas where air quality meets today’s standards.”

Dr. Julie Goodman of Gradient, an expert in toxicology, epidemiology and in assessing health risks from chemicals in products and the environment, also joined the call. Goodman said EPA has not produced “coherent evidence” that a new PM standard is necessary:

“There’s no evidence that lowering (the standard) 2 to 3 micrograms will have any effect on health. In other words, there’ll be no (real) health benefits from lowering the standard.”

Goodman’s remarks for the Philadelphia hearing can be read here.

View the original article here

Another Fracking Strawman, Up In Smoke

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, telling Reuters on Monday that state regulation of hydraulic fracturing isn’t enough:

"There are some who are saying that it's not something we ought to do, it should be left up to the states. That's not good enough for me because states are at very different level, some have zero, some have decent rules."

Bold, to be sure. So we wonder about the “some who are saying” in Salazar’s comment. Who’s he talking about? Perhaps EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who said this in an interview last fall:

"The vast majority of oil and gas production is regulated at the state level. There are issues of whether or not the federal government can add to protection and also peace of mind for citizens by looking at large issues like air pollution impacts, which can be regional. ... So it's not to say that there isn't a federal role, but you can't start to talk about a federal role without acknowledging the very strong state role. We have no data right now that lead us to believe one way or the other that there needs to be specific federal regulation of the fracking process."

Worth repeating: The chief of the federal agency charged with protecting the environment says they’ve got nothing indicating that there needs to be “specific federal regulation of the fracking process.” More Jackson, a few days later on MSNBC:

“States are stepping up and doing a good job. I always say it doesn't have to be EPA that regulates the 10,000 wells that might go in."

Now, about the last part of Salazar’s comment, that some states have “zero” hydraulic fracturing regulation. We’ve checked around, and it looks like the secretary succumbed to a bit of Washington hyperbole there. A 2009 report by the Groundwater Protection Council, funded by the Energy Department for its National Energy Technology Laboratory, didn’t detect any oil and natural gas-producing states with ZERO rules.

Meanwhile, state officials sure sound deserving of Jackson’s confidence.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission Chairman Dana Murphy, before Congress last fall:

"My fundamental point would be to encourage that the states are the appropriate bodies to regulate the oil and gas drilling industry. Protection of water and the environment and the beneficial development of the nation's resources of oil and gas are not mutually exclusive goals. Oklahoma is proof of that."

And Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer:

“Simply put, because of our long history of oil and gas development and comprehensive regulatory structure, Pennsylvania does not need federal intervention to ensure an appropriate balance between resource development and environmental protection is struck.”

And Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper:

“I was personally involved with 50 or 60 (fracked) wells. There have been tens and thousands of wells in Colorado … and we can’t find anywhere in Colorado a single example of the process of fracking that has polluted groundwater. … There is a lot of anxiety out there certainly with hydraulic fracturing. But often times that anxiety is not directly connected to facts.”

If Secretary Salazar is dissatisfied with state-centered regulation of fracking – which is closest to and most responsive to individual industry operations – he should check with Administrator Jackson. And also with officials in the states, who clearly take the responsibility to oversee fracking within their borders seriously.

View the original article here

Make TAPS the Gift That Keeps On Giving

Worth reading is U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s op-ed piece in the Juneau Empire, marking the 35th birthday of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline System, or TAPS.

The Alaska Republican knows something about oil. She represents a huge energy state and would likely head the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee if the GOP emerges from this fall’s elections with a majority. She depicts TAPS as more than a conduit for crude from Alaska’s North Slope. It’s an economic pipeline as well – for the state and the rest of the country. Key facts:

TAPS is 800 miles long, running from Prudhoe Bay in the north to Valdez on the Gulf of Alaska.Since oil first started flowing in 1977, the pipeline has delivered more than 16.6 billion barrels.As Murkowski notes, three out of every 10 jobs in Alaska can be traced to TAPS.The pipeline has generated more than $171 billion in revenues to the state treasury. North Slope oil production allowed the state to terminate its income tax in 1980.

Murkowski writes:

“Oil wealth has paid for improving our roads, water and sewer systems, building parks, renewing our cities, and improving life in our most remote villages. The riches that Alaskans have extracted from under the North Slope have also funded our schools, and helped bring our health care system into the 21st century.”

The pipeline’s birthday is an excellent time to think about its future. Murkowski writes that at its zenith, TAPS carried 2 million barrels of oil per day. Now the daily flow is only about a quarter of that. Alaska has slipped behind North Dakota to No. 3 on the list of top oil-producing states (behind Texas). Here’s a chart from Gov. Sean Parnell’s office showing North Slope production decline, which has decreased TAPS’ flow: 

There are risks with reduced pipeline flow. According to the governor’s office, at lower flow levels it takes longer for oil to go through the pipeline, and at lower temperatures ice forms inside that can cause damage. Murkowski:

“Without new oil production, throughput in the pipeline could fall enough to threaten its future viability. Shutting down the pipeline would mean closing up shop on the North Slope. Alaska’s oil — like its massive natural gas reserves today — would be stranded with no way to market, leaving the state scrambling to replace the 85 percent of its annual revenue that today comes from oil.”

There’s a relatively simple solution: Produce more domestic crude oil to send through TAPS. The oil is there – offshore in the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea (where Shell hopes to sink exploratory wells this summer) and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which Murkowski writes is the “largest single prospective onshore source for conventional oil in North America.” Some estimate ANWR could produce 1 million barrels of oil per day, which by itself would solve the under-capacity situation with TAPS while significantly boosting our country’s oil output. 

The problem is policy. ANWR continues to be held off limits by Washington, and development of Alaska’s offshore areas has been slow in coming – again, chiefly because the federal government has been slow granting approvals. Murkowski:

“The federally owned lands and waters to the east, west and north of Prudhoe Bay hold tremendous resources, but access has been slowed by an administration more interested in designating new wilderness than shoring up Alaska’s economy.”

We need policies that create sustained and predictable access to oil and natural gas on federal lands – in ANWR and elsewhere (see map below). Access = energy development, which will mean job creation, economic growth and a more secure energy future. And a great birthday present for TAPS.

View the original article here

American Energy Works: Chris

Chris’ story is one of opportunity – extended and accepted. The oil and natural gas company he works for as a liquid mud coordinator saw work ethic and rewarded it:

“My training is not in energy, engineering or science, but because I was willing to learn, was willing to work, they took me from having no skills to being someone who they’re not afraid to have train the new employees – people who are the future of this company.”

Chris is one of 9.2 million Americans working a job supported by the oil and natural gas industry. Check out his video:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

View the original article here

Hailing the Chief’s Support for Natural Gas Development, Fracking

President Obama deserves credit for standing fast in his support for natural gas development through hydraulic fracturing – especially given the no-to-natural gas approach taken by some of his supporters in the environmental community, including the Sierra Club. Here’s the president on Monday in Cincinnati:

“… We’re moving in the right direction in terms of energy independence. Now, part of that is this boom in natural gas.  And this is something we should welcome, because not only are we blessed with incredible natural gas resources that are now accessible because of new technologies, but natural gas actually burns cleaner than some other fossil fuels, and is an ideal fuel -- energy source that we potentially can use for the next 100 years.  So I want to encourage natural gas production.  The key is to make sure that we do it safely and in a way that is environmentally sound.”

The president is spot on – and as a response to a negative question about natural gas, his remarks were all the more remarkable. Because of abundant, affordable gas, made accessible through fracking, the global energy balance could be shifting. The president continued:

“Now, you always hear these arguments that somehow there’s this huge contradiction between the environment and economic development, or the environment and energy production.  And the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of folks right now that are engaging in hydraulic fracking who are doing it safely.”

This also is true. The oil and natural gas industry has focused on making hydraulic fracturing safer and more efficient through a set of standards that guide operators, and it has worked with states to develop regulatory regimes tailored for their specific conditions. The president went on:

“The problem is, is that we haven’t established clear guidelines for how to do it safely, and informed the public so that neighbors know what’s going on, and your family, you can make sure that any industry that’s operating in your area, that they’re being responsible.”

Well, OK. The president is mistaken or misinformed on that point. Industry has been clear and detailed in developing the standards mentioned above. It also has supported FracFocus.org to create transparency about fracking itself – a website community members can use to learn where wells are being drilled in their area, as well as the chemicals being used in the fracking fluids themselves. The industry takes community engagement and support seriously and is committed to getting shale development right.

Back to the president:

“What we’ve said is, look, we are going to work with industry to establish best practices.  We are going to invest in the basic research and science required to make sure this is done safely and in a way that protects the public health.  And for responsible companies, they should be able to operate, make a profit, and we can all benefit and put people back to work."

Best practices, we’re on it, Mr. President. Industry also is supportive of new technologies to improve operations, including those to reduce or even eliminate water use during the fracking process. Shale energy is creating jobs, thousands of them, and boosting the economy.

View the original article here

Friends of Fracking and Natural Gas

Perhaps as important as the president of the United States acknowledging the importance of natural gas and hydraulic fracturing to America’s energy present (and future) is a sense that such support is pretty far and wide. Here’s a quick roundup of some notable friends of natural gas – affordable, abundant and creating jobs all across the country – with a nod to Energy In Depth’s Steve Everley for help in corralling the links.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio:

“Shale development means economic development, and that’s exciting news for Ohio. It means tens of thousands of good-paying jobs across our state, all while helping to lower power costs for Ohio consumers. … We know that Ohio is home to countless innovative companies and a world-class workforce—now we need to ensure that energy companies arriving in the state are utilizing all that Ohio has to offer.”

Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman:

“The natural gas boom in the United States offers a tremendous opportunity to strengthen American energy security by drastically reducing our dependence on imported oil, while at the same time creating new U.S. jobs and industries. This is precisely why President Barack Obama is committed to safely and responsibly harnessing American oil and gas resources, and to developing the technologies that will unlock new domestic energy sources.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark.:

“I’m a firm believer in natural gas. It already supplies almost one-fourth of all energy in the U.S. and we’re discovering more natural gas reserves every day thanks to newer, safer drilling techniques and technologies. Better yet, more than 98 percent of natural gas comes from right here in North America. … With the Fayetteville Shale in the northern part of (Arkansas) and the Haynesville Shale in the southern part, we have an abundant supply of clean, affordable energy to offer the world.”

Natural gas and fracking have support from strong environmentalists including …

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.:

“This is what I tell environmental folks: Natural gas is really important to a lot of renewables, solar and wind, ensuring that option is out there. … Natural gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels, so you start with that as your basic proposition.”

U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.:

“I think environmentalists should want natural gas on the table as an option. When coal is also going to be considered for new electrical generation or an extension of the life of an existing coal-fired power plant, I think it would be wise for us to not take natural gas off the table.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.:

“Like any industrial process, fracking has some risks but, really, if done properly, certainly out in the West, there is literally no risk — certainly much less than many industrial processes. … I love open space and wilderness, but we all drive cars, right? And we all need energy. We recognize that, along with education, energy is the other necessary component to lifting people out of poverty.”

That last point is so important. Energy development is the difference between modern and primitive civilization – facilitating greater freedom, mobility and opportunity for better, healthier lives.

Candidly, the choice offered by some opponents of natural gas and hydraulic fracturing isn’t between more responsible development and less; it’s between responsible development and NO development. It’s an extreme choice. As energy blogger Steve Maley posted a few weeks ago, “If you’re not a fan of natural gas you’re a fan of mud huts.”

The right choice is to safely and responsibly develop a resource that can play a major role in securing America’s energy future.

View the original article here

I'll Just Have A Salad – Weekly Weigh In

This week at Weight Watchers, I was expecting a good number.  I had a good week.  It’s amazing how that works.  You do the work, you get the results.  You don’t do the work, you don’t.  It’s not rocket Science people.  But, I still have ups and downs anyway!  So…this week I was expecting a good number and that is just what I got!

Yeah! A Good Week!

I was down 3.4 pounds!  YEAH!!!!!

It feels good to have good weeks!  My clothes feel better, I have more energy and I am in a better mood.  I just need to keep it going.

This week’s topic was all about salads.

How many times have we gone to a restaurant with friends and thought we would be good so we say, “I’ll just have a salad!”  Little did we know, we could be consuming more calories and fat than some people at the table ordering “unhealthy foods!”

We just need to be careful when choosing salads at a restaurant.  My advice would be to do the research AHEAD of going out to eat.  Then, there aren’t any surprises as to what you get when you order.

My favorite salad at any restaurant used to be the Chili’s Quesadilla Explosion salad.  I was doing so good because I was ordering a salad.  Well…my favorite salad has 1300 calories and 86 grams of fat!  It is a whopping 35 Weight Watchers points plus!  IN ONE SALAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

See what I mean?!?

Here are the Points Plus Values for some other salads at some Restaurants:

Applebee’s Bruschetta Chicken Salad, Regular (with dressing) – 30 points plusLonghorn’s Grilled Salmon Salad (no dressing)- 22 points plusOutback’s Aussie Chicken Cobb Salad Crispy (no dressing) – 22 points plusChili’s Caribbean Shrimp Salad (no dressing) – 16 points plusTaco Bell Cantina Bowl with Chicken(as served) – 14 points plusWendy’s Apple Pecan Salad (no dressing) – 9 points plusChick-fil-A Grilled Chicken Salad (no dressing) – 5 points plusSubway Black Forest Ham Salad (no dressing) – 3 points plus

NOTE:  Some of these do not include salad dressing.  Depending on the salad dressing you put on it, you should add the appropriate points plus for the dressing (which can really add up!)

If you are wanting to plan ahead BEFORE going out to a restaurant, the internet can be a wonderful resource to find nutritional information.  On most of the websites in the salads above, it was VERY easy to find the nutrition information.

However, you have to be careful.  I went to California Pizza Kitchen’s website to look up information for my leader because she loves going there.  Well, their nutrition facts are tricky because they only give you saturated fat and not TOTAL fat.  The points will be way off if you don’t know the TOTAL fat grams.  I don’t know if they are trying to be sneaky or what but they didn’t pull one over on me!

I found a great article that shows you 15 Salads Worse than a Big Mac.  You definitely want to avoid these when eating out.

Salads are not always a bad choice when eating out.  Obviously they can be a great choice if you do your research ahead of time.  Just plan ahead so you aren’t shocked when you find out that your salad is not exactly a “healthy choice!”

What is your favorite, healthy salad when eating out?  Let’s share some good options so we all know what to choose next time!

Photo Credit

My name is Jennifer, I’m 35 and I currently live in a suburb outside of Atlanta. I live with my husband, Jason and Shi-tzu, Maggie. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.
My full time job is teaching elementary school. My part time job is private tutoring after school for grades K-6. I have been on my weight loss journey my entire life but just began to take it seriously two years ago when I decided it was time to start a family. I didn’t want to be one of those people who others look and and say, “Is she pregnant or just really fat?” At the rate I was going, that question would certainly be asked. So, two years ago I joined Weight Watchers. Now, closing in on losing 100 pounds, my life is healthier and I am happier. Now…bring on the baby!
My blog is here for you to be inspired, learn something new, and hear all about all new products I try. Join me on this weight loss journey as I go through ups and downs, good and bad, and continue to take it one day at a time!

View the original article here

What I Love – Sesame Street Style

All around the blog world, people have been putting up things they love from A-Z.  Most recently I saw it on Hungry Meets Healthy (love her blog!)  Well, anytime there is a game to play, I’m in!

This reminds me of Sesame Street.  When I was little, I would watch it all the time.  What do I remember most about Sesame Street?  The letter of the day of course (well, and The Count-He was my fav!).

So, here are all the things I love from A-Z.

A- Avery.  aka The Midge.  She is such a great kid who is so freakin’ adorable!

Isn’t she the cutest?

B- Bananas.  I have a new found love for them frozen and in protein shakes.

C- Chocolate.

D-Dunkin’ Donuts.  Extra large with three sweet-n-lows and extra cream.  Makes the day start perfectly!

LOVE this car!

E- Eastvalley.  I loved it when I was little and I love it even more now.  What an amazing place to be.

F- Family.  From the Elys to the Swaffords to the Holmes.  I love them all!

G- Greek Yogurt.  Chobani Pineapple is my all time fav.  I just wish it wasn’t so high in Points Plus!

H- Haleigh, Hannah, and Hampton.  My sister’s children.  OMG-I love them!

Love these three kiddos!

I- It Sux To Be Fat.  And you.  Without this blog or your support, I don’t know where I would be.

J- Jesus and Jason.  They are both constants in my life.  No matter what is going on, they are there.  I am so thankful.

I love this man!

K- Kids.  Thank God considering I am a teacher.  Although, there are some teachers out there that don’t like kids.  Luckily, I don’t know any!

L- Laundry.  Every weekend.  I love doing laundry.  Yes, I am weird.  There is just something about having an empty laundry bin and clean clothes hung up.

M- Maggie, my Shih-tzu.  She is our doghter (dog+daughter=doghter).  Yes, we are freaks about our dog!

N- Newborns.

O- Opponents.  I am VERY competitive.  I love a good challenge and trying to beat other people.

P- Polar ft60.  My workouts wouldn’t be the same without my Polar.

Love my Polar!

Q- Quotes.  I love a good quote.  My favorite quote ever is, “Don’t give up what you want most for what you want in the moment!”

R- Races.  There is just something about a race that pumps me up.  The thrill of all the people, the excitement of everyone being there and then the finish line always rocks!

Love Races!

S- Scheduling.  I am a BIG planner.  I need things scheduled and planned in order for me to function properly.  It is a weakness and a strength all rolled up in one.  Google Calendar keeps my hubby and I straight!

T- Teaching and Tutoring.  I love seeing children be successful in something they don’t think they are good at.  I love that three of my Math tutoring students got awards at the end of last year for “Most Improved Math.”  It shows I’m good at what I do.

U- Umbrellas.  I have naturally curly hair.  I straighten it every day.  Sometimes, it rains.  You figure it out!

V- Victorious.  I like to win.

W- Weight Watchers.  Where would I be without this program?  It has changed my life!

Jacynta and Kyle…two of Weight Watchers finest!

X- pibb X-tra Zero.  Yes, I cheated a bit on this one but this is my all time favorite drink.

Y- yurbuds.

LOVE these!

Z- Zip-lining.  I spent a summer at a Young Life camp in Colorado and did zip-lines.  It was a great summer.

There you have it.  My loves from A – Z.  Now, it’s your turn.  Tell me 5 things  you love and it can be from any letter of the alphabet.  If you are a blogger, do a post and link to your post in the comments!  Play along!

My name is Jennifer, I’m 35 and I currently live in a suburb outside of Atlanta. I live with my husband, Jason and Shi-tzu, Maggie. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.
My full time job is teaching elementary school. My part time job is private tutoring after school for grades K-6. I have been on my weight loss journey my entire life but just began to take it seriously two years ago when I decided it was time to start a family. I didn’t want to be one of those people who others look and and say, “Is she pregnant or just really fat?” At the rate I was going, that question would certainly be asked. So, two years ago I joined Weight Watchers. Now, closing in on losing 100 pounds, my life is healthier and I am happier. Now…bring on the baby!
My blog is here for you to be inspired, learn something new, and hear all about all new products I try. Join me on this weight loss journey as I go through ups and downs, good and bad, and continue to take it one day at a time!

View the original article here

American Energy Works: Tanker Safety Officer

Janet DeCastro of Polar Tankers wanted a life at sea, so she entered the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. One of the requirements for cadets was to go to sea for a year on a commercial vessel, and DeCastro’s assignment was aboard an oil tanker.

The experience has become a 24-year professional career – and is one of 9.2 million jobs supported by the oil and natural gas industry. In the video below, DeCastro talks about the ships on which she serves, and the role she plays ensuring safe delivery of oil and protection of the environment:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and more stories from the people of the oil and natural gas industry, who are at work for America.

View the original article here

Friday Five: Video Edition

Hey friends! Happy Friday!

I made this video ages ago but never got around to uploading it. Other stuff was more important.

Not my favorite vlog ever, but I love all the stuff I got!

Naturally, LeahSweet Mama M

New Zealand people! Yay! :)

Korean BBQ restaurant with friendsChecking out a market or two Watching the Olympics!! :)Chicken fajitasLoads of jalapenos, at every meal (really)Kidney bean and corn salsaEgg sandwichSNOWBOARDING!Getting out of the house for a couple days (working at home is not my favorite)Roadtripping and seeing new things in New ZealandTaking JuJu to obedience schoolSleeping :)

Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend!

Related posts:

Random Video FridayWeekend Fun & Our Wedding VideoFriday Five: Food From Strangers EditionFriday Five: Photos EditionVideo Doesn’t Lie, But I Do

View the original article here

Innovation: Making Energy Production Cleaner, More Efficient

When we wrote last week about technologies to mitigate water demands during hydraulic fracturing, we knew we’d find more examples of energy innovation for the simple fact that there’s a lot of innovating going on. Here’s a little bit about two other advances in the area of fracking waste water, as well as another company’s initiative to make the development of Canada’s oil sands cleaner and greener.

Halliburton says it has a suite of solutions to reduce the demand for fresh water in hydraulic fracturing operations, called H2-Forward. You can read more about it, here. Basically, it’s a process that allows drillers to reuse fracturing fluid. Halliburton:

"The service includes new technologies such as CleanWave service that is used to process fracturing flowback and produced water, resulting in a clean brine fully suitable for well site operations including drilling, fracturing and completion fluids. … The system, which can treat 20 bbl/minute, uses an electrical process that destabilizes and coagulates suspended colloidal matter in water. Easy scalability enables quickly treating large volumes of water in reserve and flowback pits and, depending on the operation, treating flowback and produced water in real-time during a fracturing operation. The CleanWave system removes up to 99% of total suspended solids, heavy metals, hydrocarbon and bacteria."

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania-based Epiphany Solar Water Systems’ main product is a system that uses solar power to clean fracking waste water. Consol Energy, which is active in the Marcellus Shale area, recently announced it is investing $500,000 in Epiphany and will run a test site for the purification system beginning next month.

Here’s Ephiphany’s description of its technology:

"Dirty water passes into the distillation unit and instantly vaporizes due to the intense heat focused on the distillation unit. During the vaporization process, any dissolved solids … separate, and living organisms (bacteria) are killed due the intense heat. The water vapor (now void or any impurities) continues to pass through the distillation unit. As the steam reaches colder stages it begins to condense back down into distilled water. From the output of the distillation unit then comes freshly distillated water, safe for consumption."

Calgary-based N-Solv Corporation is promoting a technology it says will reduce the amount of energy needed to produce bitumen from oil sands, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent without using any water. A $60 million field test in Alberta is scheduled for next April. It uses warm solvents such as propane or butane to melt the bitumen deposits, which the company says is more efficient than using in-situ steam technology. You can read more about it on the company’s website, here.

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American Energy Works: Driving Economic Growth

Energy-driven economic growth is more than theory in places like Mount Vernon, Ohio, and Chandlersville, about 60 miles to the southeast. Shale energy is building growth in both places – in different ways.

In Mount Vernon, Ariel Corporation is experiencing demand for the reciprocating gas compressors it manufactures, which are used to extract, process, transport, store and distribute natural gas from shale. In Chandlersville, Steve Addis and his wife own and operate Annie’s Restaurant, which is seeing an influx of workers who’re drilling new shale gas wells in the area. Both show how the oil and natural gas industry supports jobs beyond direct industry jobs.

More in this video:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

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Drop That Cocktail

For my first post as Fitness Magazine’s Fitterati, I wanted to inform everyone about the dangers in summer cocktails.  They are laden with so many calories.  And, who can stop at just one?!?  Not me!  In the article, I offer several alternatives that have much less calories than the traditional beverages.

I sure hope you will head over to Fitness Magazine and read my post.

CLICK HERE to read the article, Favorite Summer Drink Alternatives.

I would LOVE it if you would take the time to comment while you are over there and tell me YOUR favorite summer cocktail!

I am headed out to On the Border tonight with two of my friends and you better believe I will NOT be having a yummy Long Island Iced Tea or a Margarita!

Thanks for checking it out!

Happy Hump Day!

Watch out for hidden calories in cocktails!

My name is Jennifer, I’m 35 and I currently live in a suburb outside of Atlanta. I live with my husband, Jason and Shi-tzu, Maggie. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.
My full time job is teaching elementary school. My part time job is private tutoring after school for grades K-6. I have been on my weight loss journey my entire life but just began to take it seriously two years ago when I decided it was time to start a family. I didn’t want to be one of those people who others look and and say, “Is she pregnant or just really fat?” At the rate I was going, that question would certainly be asked. So, two years ago I joined Weight Watchers. Now, closing in on losing 100 pounds, my life is healthier and I am happier. Now…bring on the baby!
My blog is here for you to be inspired, learn something new, and hear all about all new products I try. Join me on this weight loss journey as I go through ups and downs, good and bad, and continue to take it one day at a time!

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Energy Quest and ‘Britain’s Atlantis’

A couple of fascinating reports detail discoveries at the bottom of the North Sea that some scientists say indicate the existence of “Doggerland,” an area that connected modern-day Great Britain to continental Europe until about 7,000 years ago.

CBS News reports that fossilized evidence of mammoths and other large game, harpoons, flint tools and suspected burial mounds mark settlements of hunters and gatherers who lived on dry land all around the British Isles – in areas connecting England to France and the Low Countries, as well as the area between Scotland and Denmark. London’s Daily Mail calls it “Britain’s Atlantis.”

Interesting stuff, you say, but what the heck does it have to do with energy?

It turns out divers with oil companies that are operating in the North Sea found remains of the submerged world, the Daily Mail reports, and scientists have used industry geophysical modeling data to help piece together what the area looked like when it was dry ground. Research team leader Richard Bates, a geophysicist at the University of St. Andrews:

“Through a lot of new data from oil and gas companies, we’re able to give form to the landscape - and make sense of the mammoths found out there, and the reindeer. We’re able to understand the types of people who were there.”

There’s much work to be done, Bates says: 

"We haven't found an 'x marks the spot' or 'Joe created this', but we have found many artifacts and submerged features that are very difficult to explain by natural causes, such as mounds surrounded by ditches and fossilized tree stumps on the seafloor. There is actually very little evidence left because much of it has eroded underwater; it's like trying to find just part of a needle within a haystack. What we have found, though, is a remarkable amount of evidence, and we are now able to pinpoint the best places to find preserved signs of life."

We’ll let you know if they turn up any signs of pre-historic oil and natural gas exploration.

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Graphically Speaking: Fracking and Injection Wells

Last week’s National Research Council report on hydraulic fracturing and earthquakes pretty much ends up where a number of scientists are on the correlation between fracking and quakes: that energy development from shale formations poses a low risk for tremors of significance. The report said more attention should be given to injection wells, which are used for waste disposal by a number of industrial enterprises, not just the oil and natural gas industry. AP science writer Seth Borenstein’s take on the report is here.

API, America’s Natural Gas Alliance and the American Exploration & Production Council have produced a couple of informational tools on hydraulic fracturing and seismic activity and underground injection control (UIC) wells that are especially timely with release of the council’s report. 

Highlights from the fracking document:

Hydraulic fracturing is done with a mixture of more than 99.5 percent water and sand. The other one-half of 1 percent is chemical – including anti-bacterials and lubricants. See the FracFocus.org site for more on fracking fluids.Fracturing that occurs thousands of feet below the surface (and below groundwater aquifers) is carefully mapped with sophisticated equipment to optimize recovery of the oil and/or natural gas and to monitor the well itself. In other words, microseismic activity associated with fracking is thoroughly understood.

One study of several thousand shale fracture treatments across North America showed the largest micro-quake measured about 0.8 or about 2,000 times less energy than a magnitude 3.0 earthquake. The chart below shows that most of the micro-quakes in this study were 10,000 to 1 million times smaller than a 3.0 earthquake, which is roughly equivalent to the passing of a nearby truck:

Highlights from the UIC document:

The U.S. has about 151,000 Class II UIC wells used by the oil and natural gas industry, of which only a handful are being studied for possible links to earthquakes. These wells are a subset of more than 800,000 injection wells nationwide used to dispose of a variety of industrial wastes and for development of various minerals and geothermal energy sources. Here’s a map that shows the state-by-state well distribution:

Injection wells are regulated by EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act. In many cases EPA has delegated authority for the UIC program to the states, with 39 states having primary authority over 95 percent of all UIC Class II wells.Literature published in the past five years shows that less than 40 incidents of seismic activity felt on the surface were associated with Class II injection wells.

Injection wells pump fluids into deep rock formations (see graphic). It’s unusual, but in some cases a quake can occur when a number of geological and operational factors come together – especially the presence of hard, dense and brittle crystalline “basement rock.”  These quakes are almost always small, below the level that would be felt on the surface.

For more information, check out the Energy From Shale website.

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Editorially Speaking, New York Times is Behind the Curve on Shale Gas

Here’s what caught our eye in an otherwise relatively benign New York Times editorial on shale natural gas and hydraulic fracturing:

“For their part, the oil and gas companies — both the ExxonMobils and the mom-and-pops that abound in hydrofracturing — need to drop their warfare against necessary regulations.”

And later:

“Stronger federal rules are plainly needed.”

Last things first: Stronger federal rules? Where has the Times’ editorial board been the occasions when EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has downplayed the notion of federal shale gas regulation overlaying existing state regulation? Here’s Jackson last fall:

“We have no data right now that lead us to believe one way or the other that there needs to be specific federal regulation of the fracking process. … So it's not to say that there isn't a federal role, but you can't start to talk about a federal role without acknowledging the very strong state role.”

And a couple of days later, on MSNBC:

“States are stepping up and doing a good job. It doesn’t have to be EPA that regulates the 10,000 wells that might go in.”

It’s likely Jackson knows there’s not much the feds could add to the competent, efficient oversight that state regulators already are providing. And the Times doesn’t explain what it believes federal regulation – probably duplicative, almost certainly unnecessary – would accomplish.

In fact, industry recognizes the need for regulation. We just believe it’s best handled by the states. That’s why we’ve worked with the states through the STRONGER organization to develop regulatory regimes tailored for their specific circumstances. API and its members also have worked hard to develop industry standards that often form the basis for state regulations – on wellbore integrity, water management, community relations and more. Industry supports disclosure through the FracFocus online chemical registry.

All of the above address the editorial’s other assertion – that energy companies need to “drop their warfare” against regulation. Sorry, but the real warfare here has been waged by the Times in its “Drilling Down” series, a collection of inaccuracies, misrepresentations and manipulations that the Council on Foreign Relations’ Michael Levi dubbed a “war on shale gas.” This has included flawed reporting on mortgages, leases and the economic future of shale gas – at one point drawing a penalty flag from the newspaper’s own ombudsman. 

So, while noting the editorial’s positive points about shale gas, we encourage the newspaper’s editorial board to get up to speed on the good work states are doing to regulate industry activity, as well as industry efforts to get shale gas development right.

View the original article here

Launching: American Energy Works.org

The intersection of a recent anti-natural gas fundraiser at the trendy Brooklyn Winery – featuring fabulous culinary delights prepared by a group of talented chefs – and the natural gas that made the evening possible was, well, simply mouth-watering.

New York Daily News columnist Bill Hammond writes that the “Taste of the Marcellus” event last week was hosted by a group called Chefs for the Marcellus, to showcase the kinds of foods they say could be jeopardized if New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo OKs hydraulic fracturing in that state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale. Hammond:

"Guests were treated to eggplant-stuffed okra, smoked lamb belly with fermented tofu and whipped ricotta jewel on toast — along with wines from the Finger Lakes and beers from Cooperstown’s Ommegang brewery. Th... more »

Jill is a district manager for Total Safety, a company that provides service solutions for various aspects of the oil and natural gas industry, as well as power-generation and industrial markets. For her, the industry is about future job security: “It’s really an industry that’s not going away.”

Her video:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds two of the top three issues that Americans care about the most in this election year are … jobs and reducing the federal budget deficit. Check and check. America’s oil and natural gas industry can help with both. Respondents were asked to weigh the importance of a number of issues (see chart), and 92 percent said creating good jobs is “extremely/very important.” On cutting the federal deficit the figure was 86 percent. Jobs and revenue to the government – we can help.

With the right policies in place – increasing access to American natural resources, the right approach to energy regulation, encouraging energy investments and more – our industry could create 1.4 million jobs by 2030. Here’s how the Wood Mackenzie energy consulting firm charts the pot... more »

Energy-driven economic growth is more than theory in places like Mount Vernon, Ohio, and Chandlersville, about 60 miles to the southeast. Shale energy is building growth in both places – in different ways.

In Mount Vernon, Ariel Corporation is experiencing demand for the reciprocating gas compressors it manufactures, which are used to extract, process, transport, store and distribute natural gas from shale. In Chandlersville, Steve Addis and his wife own and operate Annie’s Restaurant, which is seeing an influx of workers who’re drilling new shale gas wells in the area. Both show how the oil and natural gas industry supports jobs beyond direct industry jobs.

More in this video:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for Am... more »

ConocoPhillips’ Bob Morton is chief materials scientist at the company’s technology center in Bartlesville, Okla. The chemical that allowed development of low-sulfur gasoline and diesel – without sacrificing octane and without increasing the cost of the fuel – was developed there, he says.

Coming up with environmentally friendly consumer products is Morton’s mission:

“What I really love about my job is sometimes I’m given the opportunity to see something that nobody has seen before. And when those moments happen truly, those are the things that I think are the most wonderful parts of doing the job.”

Check out Bob’s story:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

... more »

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