Marcellus Gas Pipeline To Cut Across Wyeth Country
Think Marcellus Shale Gas pollution won’t come to Southeastern PA? Think again.
Clean Water Action has recently raised the alarm to protect Chester County, PA from a natural gas pipeline project which would cause devastation to streams, wetlands and ecosystems. The public comment period for this pipeline is ridiculously short. It ends on June 4, 2012. Read the rest of this entry »
Fracking Opposition Worldwide
A number of countries have taken action to curtail “seam gas fracking,” yet the fight to permanently protect land, air and water from extreme fossil fuel extraction rages on. Here, an overview of the global state of fracking opposition, brilliantly compiled and regularly updated by Johnny Linehan at FrackingHell (UK). Read the rest of this entry »
Anti-Fracking Petitions Proliferate in PA and Around the World
There are tons of anti-fracking petitions floating around these days. A few years ago, it would have been a challenge to find one, but now they’re like fish in a barrel. Some have gained heavy traction, like PennEnvironment’s “Protect Pennsylvania from Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling” which has more than 35,000 signatures, yet lawmakers of both parties regularly remark that they tend to pay “internet petitions” scant notice.
“Nobody pays attention to them,” confirmed State Senator Daylin Leach [D-17th] at an informal discussion on gas drilling issues hosted by PennEnvironment in Upper Merion earlier this year. I guess I already kinda knew that but I’m optimistic by nature and, after all, it’s only a few clicks, right? If nothing else, I’ll lend a little moral support to the petitioners? Leach recommends letters and petitions on paper, and calling on your legislators.
Still, maybe lawmakers ought to at least take note of the sheer number of online anti-fracking petitions. If nothing else, it’s an indication that the public is trying to tell them something. There are way more petitions than I could possibly list here, of course that didn’t stop me from trying! Please let me know if I missed yours.
Say No To Shale Gas! Current Petitions:
Upgrade The Delaware River to Exceptional Value Status (Delaware Riverkeeper Network)
Protect the Susquehanna River Basin (Protecting Our Waters)
No New Permits – A Moratorium for Pennsylvania (Pennsylvanians for Clean Land, Air and Water)
Tell Governor Corbett to Provide Water for Fracking Victims (Water Defense)
Tell Congress to Ban Fracking Now! (Food and Water Watch)
Tell State Legislators to Ban Fracking Now! (Food and Water Watch)
Save the Clean Water Act from Attack by Gas Drillers (Sierra/PA)
Stop Fracking in Bucks County PA and Repeal Act 13! (Concerned Bucks County Pa Family)
It’s too easy to waste time on Facebook, yet every once in a while you find something big and beautiful. So, while I hope Mr. Zuckerberg’s new marriage goes more smoothly than his recent IPO, and I was initially daunted by Timeline, I had to share this recent fb discovery, which I happened upon via Alerte Schiste via Fracking Hell UK via Protecting Our Waters via …
Anti-Fracking Songs Version 2.1 (24.3.12) No. Entries 233
If you’ve got the music in you, be sure to send your anti-fracking tune to alerte.schiste@gmail.com.
Families fracked as threat of shale gas pollution hits home…
WTFrack.org, an impressive anti-fracking organization in Colorado, recently reposted this item from The Denver Post. The story made me mad. Madd mad.
“DENVER — A small group of mothers and children from Erie marched into the building that houses Encana Corp.’s Denver headquarters this morning to present a petition signed by 21,000 people demanding that the energy giant forgo a planned natural gas drilling site near elementary schools and an adjoining neighborhood…”
Why should these women have to fight for their children’s right to clean air? Probably because adequate zoning restrictions don’t exist in their neighborhood. And thanks to Act 13, they don’t exist in my Pennsylvania neighborhood anymore, either. I applaud these moms for organizing a direct action. I’m certain they have plenty of other things to do. Read the rest of this entry »
“There’s No Future”
Angela and Wayne own and operate a farm in Clearville, PA. They candidly share their experiences with the Natural Gas Industry in this short video. Read the rest of this entry »
[UPDATED: May 25, 2012] Including more info on Reclassification to Exceptional Value or High Quality Stream
“The Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) is petitioning the PA Department of Environmental Protection to upgrade the Upper and Middle Delaware River to Exceptional Value (EV) Quality,” states Faith Zerbe , DRN’s Water Watch Director.
To this very productive end, Delaware Riverkeepers and over 20 organizations and 300 co-petitioners have submitted a petition to to PADEP, and they are actively seeking signatures and letters of support. If you value this magnificent, historic American River, please lend your voice and sign on to the Original Petition to elevate the Delaware’s environmental, economic and social status. Demand adequate protections for drinking water today! Read the rest of this entry »
Fractivista Swears Off Morning Joe
This morning, T. Boon Pickens literally laughed off environmental concerns about Fracking on msnbc’s Morning Joe. Joe just sat on his moderately conservative ass, nodding in agreement, while Tom Perriello, former Virgina Representative [D-5th] and CEO of Center for American Progress offered very little by way of a Progressive rebuttal. Essentially, “Boon” was given a platform to assert the false choice between oil and gas, and there was nary a mention of Renewables. Pickens spoke about Saudi Arabia hoarding oil for their own air conditioning, driving up prices, but not the fact that Saudi Arabia is now heavily invested in solar. You can read more about that in a May 16, 2012 post by Travis Hoim, The Surprising $100 Billion Solar Investment, also on msnbc.
Don’t be a gashole, Joe! Ask Willie Geist, he’s the only one who questioned the environmental impacts though he wasn’t given time for a follow up. Here are some news items which for some reason have been routinely sidelined by the lamestream media. And this post was brought to you by organic, Fair Trade green tea.
[UPDATED with New Links]
Drinking water disinfection is among the most important technological advances of humanity, yet like every major historic development it has a downside. Today, we run the risk of over-ingesting the disinfection chemicals used in public water treatment, along with their dangerous disinfection bi-products. It’s a bummer to know what’s really in our water – everything from naturally occurring radioactive contaminants to anti-depressants. Some toxins, such as chlorine, are relatively easy to filter out. Others, like chloramine, and disinfection biproducts (DBPs) such as chloroform (CHC13), are much slower to dissipate and far more difficult to remove. These are the toxins believed to cause cancer. Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Shumlin signs new ban, on track to become law…
From Vermont Fracking Ban Poised to Become Law by the AP via Huffington Post:
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont appears on the verge of enacting the nation’s first statewide ban of a hotly debated natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing. Read the rest of this entry »
In Case You Missed It…
The Fracking Boom: Missing Answers is a Special Series airing all week on NPR (WHYY in Philadelphia). According to the promo: “The natural gas boom is under way in the United States, with more than 200,000 wells drilled in just under a decade. But people living on the front door step of the natural gas bonanza have a question: Are these wells creating harmful pollutants? NPR explores why there isn’t an answer yet.” Read the rest of this entry »
Coaltion-building is key to defeating the gasholes who want to Frack with the Delaware River Watershed. Luckily, we’ve got some serious NYC star-power to help fuel the movement to protect it.
Protect Our Drinking Water! Stop Hydraulic Fracturing!
“My Body of Water” is a short spot created by Citizens for Water, Damascus Citizens, Catskill Mountain Keeper, and Bone/Levine Architects, and it features Adrian Grenier, Leighton Meester, Norman Reedus, Zoe Kravitz, Sandra Bernhard, Ezra Miller, Nigel Barker, Christina Mclarty, Nev Shulman, Toure, Mehdi Nebbou, Alek Wek, Alysia Reiner, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear. Thanks to Josh Fox and Faith Zerbe of Delaware Riverkeeper Network for passing it along. Enjoy!
For more information, please visit iHeartH2O.org
Landmark Video Exposes Unconventional Gas Drilling Facts
PLEASE HELP UNEARTHED KEEP UP ITS INVESTIGATION: http://igg.me/p/67361?a=406499
Un•earthed: Setting the track record straight – Read the rest of this entry »
On Friday, May 4, 2012, the Obama Administration issued “New Rules!” for frackers on federal lands. According to John M. Broder in New Proposal on Fracking Gives Ground to Industry in The New York Times, Team Obama made “a significant concession to the oil industry, companies will have to reveal the composition of fluids only after they have completed drilling — a sharp change from the government’s original proposal, which would have required disclosure of the chemicals 30 days before a well could be started.“
In a statement on the US Department of the Interior website, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar comments, “This administration’s energy strategy is an all-out effort to boost American production of every available source of energy. As we continue to offer millions of acres of America’s public lands for oil and gas development, it is critical that the public have full confidence that the right safety and environmental protections are in place.“
Miguel Llanos reports in US Wants ‘Fracking’ on Federal Lands to Disclose Chemicals on msnbc.com: “Environmental groups welcomed the proposal’s mandatory requirement for disclosure but want even tougher wording.”
Read the rest of this entry »
When Hollywood comes a knockin’ to make a movie in your state about a vitally important issue, you gotta say thanks. Opposition to Fracking, once you recognize that unconventional shale gas drilling cannot be done safely – not in the long-term or short-term – becomes like common sense, and you wonder why more people don’t share it. You hope they will, before it’s too late, and it really helps to have people as talented as Matt Damon and Gus van Sant around to help tell the story of Pennsylvania’s Gas Boom. I’m thankful that “Promised Land” – hailed by The Huffington Post as an “anti-fracking movie” – began filming in the Pittsburgh area in April, no doubt much to Corbett’s jowly chagrin. It’s all good, babe. Read the rest of this entry »
Anti-Fracking Rally in Washington DC - Saturday, July 28, 2012
Contact: Your Legislators! Ask Them To Speak Out Against Unconventional Gas Drilling in Pennsylvania at Stop the Frack Attack
May 3, 2102, Fracksylvania, USA: At long last, a date to focus on, and work towards. A time to make our objection to filthy shale gas drilling known. Hurray. Sign up now for the rally, get updates and information, and get psyched. Or simply save-the-date and be there to make history on July 28th and protect our human right to clean air, land and water. Read the rest of this entry »
The Clean Air Council Is Having a Frack Attack in Pennsylvania
Clean Air Council (CAC) has launched a legal blitz to force EPA engagement on the critical air issues associated with natural gas operations in Pennsylvania. Frank Finan breaks down the issue with infrared footage from a compressor station in Northeast PA, appropriately set to “Power” by Kanye West.
Untold Emissions
CAC is focused on forcing full compliance with the Clean Air Act from the Fracking Industry. The Frack Attack Objectives:
“PA DEP: Your authority to forsake Pennsylvania’s air quality lies on shaky ground.” – Your Friends at The Clean Air Council
Follow Frack Attack actions at cleanair.org. For more information, contact CAC staff attorneys Jay Duffy, judffy@cleanrair.org or David Presley dpresley@cleanair.org.
Massive Industrialization Cannot Be Concealed
Nor do Shale Gas Drillers even try. Massive deforestation and rapid land fragmentation in Pennsylvania, much of it on Public Lands, is difficult to wrap your head around, yet our legislators are permitting it, literally. “I’m going up in a helicopter,” my friend, drilling injury lawyer Jon Ostroff declared. My own fear of flying aside, I’m glad when more people get a firsthand look at what is happening “out there” in what was once the Wilds of PA. Naturally I want prosperity for all 67 counties in the Commonwealth but, obviously, extreme fossil fuel extraction is not a sustainable way to achieve it.
When I seek a bird’s eye view of the Marcellus, I visit Marcellus-Shale.us. It’s chock full of dramatic photos, many of which have become the iconic images of a gas boom gone wrong. Recently, Elisabelle Bourgue shared this small screen gem with Protest ShaleGas Fracking:
Want to stop dirty drilling?
Sign the CLAW PETITION for NO NEW DRILLING PERMITS in Pennsylvania HERE!
PA CLAW is a coalition of grassroots organizers and organizations working for a moratorium on Fracking for natural gas and its infrastructure across the state of Pennsylvania through various coordinated statewide campaigns and actions.
A MORATORIUM FOR PENNSYLVANIA Read the rest of this entry »
PennFuture Presents Just The Fracts on PA Act 13, The Marcellus Shale Act
Of the major environmental organizations opposed to Fracking in Pennsylvania, few push harder than Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, or PennFuture. This vibrant non-profit has been fighting for environmental justice since its inception, and in 2009 the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) named PennFuture as its official representative in Pennsylvania. Their tagline, “Every environmental victory grows the economy” resonates because sustainable energy must also be economical in order to generate sufficient demand. PennFuture has a long, distinguished history but it’s more interesting, perhaps, to know what the group is doing right now.
According to George Jugovic Jr., President & CEO:
Putting ACT 13 In Layperson’s Terms (Thank You)
On April 23, 2012, Susan Philips posted a link to a pdf of PennFuture’s new Fact Sheet in Plain Language Version of Pennsylvania’s New Drilling Law Published. The Fact Sheet covers the highlights (lowlights, really) of the new Marcellus Shale Law. I found it very helpful in my attempt to understand just how badly Governor Corbett has undercut the Commonwealth with the bill he and Senator Joe Scarnati strong-armed Philadelphia area democrats to vote for. So here it is, in its entirety: Read the rest of this entry »
