Chapter 5: Updates

  • May 1, 2011 – South Africa places a national moratorium on hydrofracking. Royal Dutch Shell has shown interest in drilling in the Karoo, a semi-arid region in the West of the country.
  • July 1, 2011 - Moratorium on hydrofracking in New York State expires. Increasing attention and debate has surrounded hydrofracking in New York State and in the Delaware River Basin, with a public comment period for NY’s Supplemental General Environmental Impact Statement ending on December 12, 2011.
  • July 1, 2011 – Texas Governor Rick Perry signs legislation mandating the disclosure of hydrofracking chemicals on sites within the state of Texas. The law follows similar laws passed in Wyoming, Michigan and Pennsylvania. None of these laws require disclosure of ingredient concentrations, a loophole that makes actual assessments of toxicity nearly impossible.
  • November 2, 2011 – Bowland Shale Seismicity report is released, in which hydrofracking at a site in Lancashire, UK is conclusively linked to increased earthquakes.

For more updates, check our news section

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.