I am not a great student of TV news, but I watch a little almost every night, and I've noticed something that makes me wonder about how stuff works in this day and age. I rather enjoy MSNBC--Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews. It's refreshing to have someone abandon fake objectivity and cut loose. Not that they're always right--that is, always agreeing with me--but they're always intelligent and passionate.

What has caught my attention is some of the ads. One assumes (one is forced to infer, as my old friend Dave Brower would say) that MSNBC viewers are generally of the liberal persuasion and therefore tending toward the pro-environmental angle on things. But the natural gas industry, the coal industry, and Chevron, are advertising heavily on these programs, and it makes me wonder what's up.

Okay, so technically the name for EPA's new hotline isn't Gas Busters. It's the 'Eyes On Drilling' Tipline. But with all the scary stuff happening in the gas fields these days, I couldn't resist. 

Folks in the oil and gas fields: if you see suspicious activity related to oil and gas drilling, call EPA at 1-877-919-4EPA (toll free number) or email eyesondrilling@epa.gov (This is the non-emergency number. For emergencies, stick with 911.)

Why does EPA need a hotline for suspicious gas drilling activity? Good question: These days, the gas industry has a new method for drilling gas. It's called horizontal hydraulic fracturing. And if it sounds scary, that's because it is. They take millions and millions of gallons of clean water, spike it with toxic chemicals, then blast the water thousands of feet beneath the ground into horizontally drilled wells, blasting the gas out of the rock pores. Some of the polluted water comes back up through the well. The rest stays in the ground, migrating who knows where.

Some top stories from the last week at Earthjustice...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski seems determined to undermine the Clean Air Act, and has enlisted industry lobbyists in her quest. Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen discussed why it's critical to take action now to protect this important environmental law.

The days of rampant, indiscriminant oil and gas drilling on public lands are over, according to an announcement from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. The BLM will develop and extend the environmental review processes for public lands drilling plans, something Earthjustice attorneys have advocated for years. 

The DOE just released new efficiency standards for Laundromat washing machines, but unfortunately they won't do enough to weed the least efficient from the market. Next time you take a trip to the Laundromat, try to find a front-loading machine, as these tend to waste less water and energy than top-loaders.

If you haven't heard much about the rare Pacific fisher, it might be its rarity after centuries of fur-trapping and logging in the Pacific northwest. Now, an Earthjustice lawsuit has helped make sure it's still eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Find out more about this mighty porcupine hunter in Monday Reads.

One of the biggest changes in natural gas drilling in the last decade has been the use of hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") to free gas from captured rock. The practice involves pumping huge amounts of water and a chemical cocktail downhole into rock sometimes two miles deep.

The practice is prevalent - and controversial. The key to the controversy is what's in the soup the drilling companies are pumping underground. Drilling companies generally refuse to say. That means the public has no idea what toxins are in the stuff. And those toxins could eventually migrate into aquifers used for drinking water by millions.

In Wyoming, for example, EPA is concerned that "at least three water wells contain a chemical used" in fracking. And in Durango, an emergency room nurse suffered organ failure after treating a gas field worker covered in chemicals presumed to be fracking fluid. The gas company wouldn't say what was in the goop covering the worker.

What do gas companies have to fear from disclosure of fracking fluid ingredients?