News bites: ‘Fracking’ linked to Ohio quakes, cops hunt for climate email hacker, and more

The Associated Press reports on alleged links between seismic activity and wastewater from the controversial drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing:

A northeast Ohio well used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas drilling almost certainly caused a series of 11 minor quakes in the Youngstown area since last spring, a seismologist investigating the quakes said Monday.

Research is continuing on the now-shuttered injection well at Youngstown and seismic activity, but it might take a year for the wastewater-related rumblings in the earth to dissipate, said John Armbruster of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y.

A front-page Washington Post story looks at a Supreme Court wetlands case that has become a rallying cry for conservative and corporate critics of EPA.

The New York Times reports on the police investigation of the infamous hacked climate-science emails.

French oil-and-gas giant Total has inked a $2.3 billion deal for a stake in the development of the Utica shale in Ohio, which Reuters notes continues a trend of European and Asian companies buying into U.S. shale plays.

The New York Times reports on the prospect of storing solar energy for use after dark and when it’s cloudy, noting that companies including Google and Chevron are investing in the technology. 

This post was updated at 11:31 a.m.