Promised Land, filmed on location, starring Matt Damon… This is the trailer you’ve been trolling for!
Matt Damon is Steve, a charismatic Marcellus landman having a drastic change of heart. “I’m selling them the only way they have to get back.” John Kraskinski is the farmer whose land has been destroyed by the gas industry. “We’re not fighting for land, Steve, we’re fighting for people.” And Frances McDormand is the sassy voice of reason… Has Oscar written all over it. Can’t wait.
A few days ago, Joanne Fiorito announced on facebook that she had “just chased a gashole off my land who was idling his diesel engine while he chatted on his cell because the reception is good there….he rolled his window down and asked me what I called him, and I told him I asked you to leave, and proceeded to tell me he isn’t a gashole he’s a local….I said gashole it is then, now LEAVE! and he left! TIRED OF THEIR BULLSHIT…..not taking it anymore!”
I could sense her frustration. Joanne is fractivist and prolific fb poster from a once quiet corner of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Her environs have been systematically invaded by gas drilling interests. That day, her wit lacked the usual wry twist. I offered some solidarity from SEPA: “from the Philly suburbs, it sounds like the wild west up there. you’re a good neighbor, Joanne!”
Or Why I Favour A Ban On Fracking
According to Global Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing, a facebook page administered by Luke Ashley of Wrexam, England, “Understanding how fracking and repeated fracking can result in failing well integrity. Gaps and cracks in the annular casing cement allow unwanted contaminates to migrate between formation layers and aquifers. After a well has been repeatedly fracked and is no longer economically viable, it is plugged and abandoned but nothing is or can be done to ensure adequate well integrity between the casing and drilled well bore.”
Cement Isn’t Magic. All Frack Wellbore Seals Fail Eventually.
England, Canada, United States, Ireland, Czech Republic, France, Denmark, South Africa… On Saturday, September 22, 2012, energetic yet peaceful protests sprouted up around the globe as many thousands gathered to demonstrate their concern over fracking for shale gas.
Images of The Global Frackdown from nearly every continent depict the growing outrage over this dangerous and polluting form of extreme fossil fuel extraction. They’ve been gloriously collected on the Global Frackdown facebook page.
According to EcoWatch.org in Thousands Rally Around The World To Ban Fracking: “Major actions overseas included a rally on the steps of the European Parliament; demonstrations in front of Parliament buildings in South Africa, Bulgaria and the Czech republic; marches in Argentina; grassroots activities in Paris and the south of France, and screenings of the film Gasland in Spain.”
“One for all and all for one … “
Uploaded by Tatty771
No such thing as a typical fractivist, or gasser! (more…)
Gas industry conference attendees watched from the Convention Center windows while we rallied on Arch Street below. They’d been warned to remove their badges when leaving the building. It was very Ayn Rand. The speakers, the testimonies, the songs, the chants and street theatre were nothing short of spectacular. I suspect like many I am still processing it. And, yes, together we greeted them Philly-style…
For an amazing photo gallery of the event, visit the Shale Gas Outrage facebook page. My favorite image:
credit: © Jacques-Jean Tiziou / www.jjtiziou.net
#GovernorGashole
Meanwhile inside the industry conference, Shale Gas Insight, our governor, Tom Corbett, delivered an amped-up version of his usual anti-environment rhetoric. Pennsylvanians are being harmed by gas drilling, and by his administration’s weak environmental policies, though Corbett and the industry would like us ignore this fact. They say all energy production comes with “risks.” They need to say it the stricken farmer’s face, and to the grieving mother. Define “risks.”
For Immediate Release: September 21st, 2012:
“Shale Gas Outrage speakers, marchers push to stop fracking, support renewable energy, efficience, conservation”
credit: © Jacques-Jean Tiziou / www.jjtiziou.net
Protesters from shale gas “sacrifice zones” and downstream communities protest industry conference, press for fracking bans and moratoria
Contacts:
Iris Marie Bloom, Protecting Our Waters, 215-840-6489 protectingourwaters@gmail.com
Tracy Carluccio, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, 215-692-2329 tracy@delawareriverkeeper.org
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Philadelphia, PA – “The nearest wellpad was 4000 feet from my house. After my family’s water became saturated with methane, officials told us not to use the kitchen stove because it could cause a flash fire… My granddaughter began vomiting, and only got better after they brought us a water buffalo [tank for clean water],” Tammy Manning, one of many speakers whose lives have been turned upside down by gas drilling, told the crowd of about 1000 at Shale Gas Outrage yesterday in Philadelphia. Rally and march participants vowed to protect people in affected communities by demanding a moratorium on shale gas drilling. (more…)
Protests against unconventional shale gas drilling have been popping up across the United Shale Shocked States of late, and the global List of Fracking Bans and Moratorium, curated by the incomparable Johnny Lineham at Fracking Hell (UK), has grown so long it speaks for itself. More citizens in more countries are demanding serious study of the impacts of unconventional gas production on human health and climate change. Is it a coincidence that the public’s interest in renewables has also been renewed? Given than many of the bans and moratorium are in the US, it’s safe to say most Americans expect an equally high level of environmental accountability from elected officials.
Shale Gas Outrage • September 20, 2012 at Noon
In front of the Convention Center, 13th & Arch Sts., Philadelphia, PA (19107)
Hyperbolic Hippies On The March?
Anti-Fracking Activists will go “toe-to-toe” with gas industry executives who will be present at The Marcellus Shale Coalition‘s second annual Shale Gas Insight conference, held on the very same day. As Protecting Our Waters, the Shale Gas Outrage host organization, states: “Industry will be rubbing elbows with some of our elected officials, their sights set on expanding toxic fracking throughout our region. Their ‘greenwashing’ doesn’t fool anyone: we’ve seen the damage, and even with a few new regulations, the damage is escalating out of control.” (more…)
I was recently asked if there are actual instances of shale gas drilling contaminating water and air in Pennsylvania. The answer is a resounding, “Yes!”
Gas Industry pollution happens all the time. Here, there and everywhere. No matter how much the industry doesn’t want us to notice.
Many people have signed gas drilling leases and later come to regret it. Often, they are prevented from speaking out due to non-disclosure agreements stipulated by gas companies when compelled to award damages. Yet there are plenty of people who can – and do – tell their experiences with the gas industry. Hundreds, in fact, and there are even a few who are determined to keep a record. (Hint: It ain’t PA DEP.)
The List of the Harmed is compiled and updated by Jenny Lisak, Co-director of Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and Air (PACWA).
Damned Press
“It’s all where you source your information from… He who pays the piper calls the tune.” Paul Gallay, President, Riverkeepers. (more…)
Bogus US Drilling Chemicals Database No Substitute For FRAC ACT
Make no mistake… the “Chemical Disclosure Registry” found at FracFocus.org is a sophisticated instrument of industry propaganda, not an independent, academic webtool. Though basically useless as a database, the site accomplishes more than simply informing the public about the chemicals a gas driller may, or may not, be using when hydraulically fracturing a well near you. FracFocus cleverly packages the information in an attempt to legitimize the use of the many dangerous toxins required in unconventional horizontal drilling. (more…)
Environmental incidents such as unconventional gas drilling accidents – or fraccidents – must be reported, wherever they occur. SkyTruth is a whiz-bang non-profit based in West Virginia. Their team uses remote sensing and digital mapping technologies to combine environmental protection with environmental awareness. Their motto: “As soon as WE know – YOU know.” (more…)
Does The Corbett Administration Hate Nature As Much As They Hate Environmentalists?
Not all Pennsylvanians are prepared to accept the governor’s latest executive order for a fracking “Permit Decision Guarantee” without crying foul, as Kevin Begos of the Associated Press reports via Businessweek in Foes: Pa. State Permit Order Threatens Environment.
StateImpact’s Scott Detrow appears to concur that Corbett’s new decree is a potential political misstep in How Will Corbett’s Executive Order Change The Marcellus Permitting Process? on August 13, 2012. Though he barely hints at it, Detrow’s article earned him a proper bitch-slapping in the Comments section by the governor’s hyper-conservative energy czar, Patrick Henderson, who takes to task both StateImpact and the AP for their apparent and willful lack of “context.” (more…)
We’ve only got one planet, let’s not frack it up. Join the global movement to ban fracking!
Get down with the GLOBAL FRACKDOWN!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Host An Event • Join The Party • Meet Dozens of Organizations
Spread The Word • Make A Good Noise
Sign up for updates and info at globalfrackdown.org or learn more on facebook.
Get It In Writing
Online petitions aren’t ba-a-ad, but nothing’s more valuable than hard-copy signatures. Lots of `em. Because people who are willing to put their name to paper are also more likely to go out and vote. That’s why PennEnvironment has been busy spear-heading the largest anti-fracking petition in Pennsylvania.
“Powerful gas industry lobbyists and their allies in Harrisburg are pushing through policies that would expose our environment and communities to the dangers of Marcellus Shale gas drilling. But they’ve got a fight on their hands — thousands of Pennsylvanians are joining our call to help stop gas drilling from contaminating our drinking water, polluting our air, destroying our forests and threatening our health.”
You can print & sign the PennEnvironment petition here: PennEnvironment Marcellus Shale Moratorium Petition
Already more than 50, 000 petitioners are calling on legislators “to support a moratorium on further shale gas extraction in Pennsylvania until it is proven safe for our environment and the public’s health.” The current goal is reach 100,000 so ask all your friends to sign it, too!
If you’re on Facebook, click here to post the petition to your Wall. You can copy/personalize/forward an email to your friends, including this handy link: http://bit.ly/PAMoratorium. (more…)
On May 6, 2012, a deer drank from a pool of water above an abandoned gas well in the Allegheny National Forrest. Deer drinking from a puddle, that’s nothing new. All I know is, I would never want my little doe drinking that poison!
A Leaking Gas Well In The Allegheny National Forest
Saveourstreamspa.org uploaded this short, eye-opening video: “The Allegheny National Forest is plagued with abandoned, wells that have been left behind, unplugged by oil and gas operators. Not only are many of these wells spewing methane into the atmosphere, but fluids are being released from these wells and are being consumed by game and wildlife.” (more…)
I’m mad as hell about dirty gas drilling, and I’m not going to take it anymore!
“The Fracking Industry Returns To Philadelphia”
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Philadelphia, PA
Hosted by Protecting Our Waters.
“Last year, two thousand people flooded the streets of Philadelphia to confront the mega-corporations that are playing fast and loose with public health. Protect our communities and stand up for justice! Protect air, water, farms and food. Fight against climate change by fighting unconventional dirty drilling. Make sure our voices are even louder this year, and more clear: No Fracking. No Cracking. Send this industry packing! Don’t let them frack our future!”
Get the very latest on events, speakers and educational sessions at shalegasoutrage.org. Want to volunteer? Please contact this amazing grassroots organization at protectingourwaters@gmail.com.
The Sound of 10,000 Feet Marching
I’ve been curious why the lamestream media has been slow to cover the Stop The Frack Attack! rally on Saturday in DC. After all, there were several thousand protesters. (I was there, I counted them.) Then I was reminded that no major news network, not even CNN, covered the largest public protest in Japan’s history earlier in the month, either – 100,000 people opposed to more nuclear power for that Fukushima-shocked nation. Similarly, the media ignored ensuing protests in Tokyo, though the story was finally picked up by Reuters and The Washington Post after protesters vitalized a key gubernatorial election there. Has ANGA threatened to pull their eight billion ads? Philip Bump examines the troubling phenomena of an under-performing media willfully ignoring the news in A Weekend Of Protests Barely Makes The Papers on Grist.org. (more…)
I may have been the 5000th protester, but I got to shake Josh Fox’s hand and thank him for keeping our tap water safe! For every person who made it to the Stop The Frack Attack! rally in Washington DC, many more were there in spirit. This movement is growing!
Filmmaker Josh Fox With A Cluster of Reporters
“This issue’s not going away,” said filmmaker Fox, flanked by reporters on the march. (more…)
Demand A Sane Energy Future!
STOP THE FRACK ATTACK • Saturday 7.28.12, Washington DC (more…)
“No Frack! Frack You!”
It’s okay to say it, it’s HBO… Actor Richard Belzer calls the Gas Industry out on its bullshit on Real Time With Bill Maher in March, 2011.
Say “No Fracking Way!“ at STOP THE FRACK ATTACK!
Saturday, July 28, 2012 in Washington DC
Keep Tap Water Safe 