[Updated]
PA State Senators Want To Give Away The Farm, Along With Our Property Rights
If passed, Senate Bill 166 and the flash of an industry ID would give gasland surveyors full access to private property in Pennsylvania. That’s right. Landowners must grant the gas industry full access to their land.
In other words, private property is no longer private. (more…)
No NIMBYs In SEPA: Citizens Say “Yes!” To Clean Energy In Everyone’s Back Yard!
PA Dems to hold a hearing on non-fossil renewable energy for Delaware and Montgomery counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Show your support for solar and wind! Free, open to the public.
The Democratic Policy Committee:
Renewable Energy Legislation Hearing
Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 10am
Ludington Library, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
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via Rep. Greg Vitali (D-PA, Delaware County): 
(more…)
Bill Moyers talks about Climate Change and Capitalism with Shock Doctrine author, Naomi Klein.
“I believe it’s the biggest challenge humanity has faced, and we’ve been kidding ourselves about what it’s going to take to get our emmissions down to the extent that they need to go down,” Naomi Klein.
DUG In Deep
PA DEP Secretary Krancer was in Pittsburgh last week, marshaling his forces at the Drilling Unconventional Gas (DUG East) Conference, and peppering his pro-gas speech with an unnerving number of Civil War references. According to Don Hopey in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Krancer “referred to several dozen protesters outside as less imposing than opposition he sees as a Civil War re-enactor.”
Lest we forget, the Mason-Dixon line once divided The Marcellus Shale, too.
Access to the Pittsburgh conference was limited to those who meet DUG’s self-prescribed “press pass policy.” Indeed, it’s only getting more difficult to gain entry to big gas shows, even if you are willing to pony up nearly a grand to register, even if you are a legitimately credentialed member of the press, like Buck Quigley of ArtVoice. (more…)
Everyday, I see an ANGA ad, or I read a slop-ed from a Marcellus Shale Coalition minion, and I wonder how can they say shale gas is “safe” when ALL their triple cement well-bore seals will fail within 70-100 years? How can the U.S. president say it’s safe?
Cement isn’t magical. It won’t last forever.
Is ANGA, or the Marcellus Shale Coalition, or EPA for that matter, planning to replug all the frack wells in every last watershed and aquifer by 2112? In reality, it’s more like “safe for now” or maybe “safe for a few generations” but down the road, the population in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware will have to deal with toxic drinking water.
Safe Fracking: A Modern Myth (more…)
Are you getting the message, Harrisburg? Don’t frack with Philly!
While these newly elected officials aren’t all for a ban on fracking (yet) many have taken very pro-environment positions on shale gas drilling. It’s safe to say, they’re all fractivist friendly.
Republicans and Fossil Fuel Phanatics rest assured, fractivists are taking names, determined to hold ALL elected officials accountable to their campaign promises. Clean fracking is pure fantasy, but bi-partisanship is always within reach.
Who To Vote For (If You Like Clean Water)
Far be it for me to tell people how to vote, except when there’s more at stake for Pennsylvania’s natural environment than any general election in our history, ever. But don’t take my word for it. You’ll find the most eco-friendly candidates in the race listed on Clean Water Action’s Endorsements and Key Races pages. For the very latest links and news, visit Marcellus at the Polls.
KeepTapWaterSafe.org endorses…
Where Do Our Candidates Stand On The Important Environmental Issues Facing Pennsylvania?
If you’re interested in supporting eco-friendly candidates in Pennsylvania, you might need more information about their voting records, endorsements, contributors and, of course, their campaign promises. And you’ll want to be sure to exercise your franchise on Tuesday, November 6th.
It’s Time To Mother Earth
Visit Marcellus At The Polls to learn where your candidates stand on issues related to shale gas drilling. A note from Marcellus at The Polls: It’s an all-volunteer effort. We have information on candidates running in PA who are ‘fracktivist friendly’. They are running for various offices, they are of varying political parties. We list the ones who have made strong statements against the wanton fracking of PA. We’re all volunteers & accept no $ from anyone/any political party/PAC.
Who Got What
Campaign contributions from the Oil & Gas Industry to Pennsylvania Politicians are tallied up at MarcellusMoney.org
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
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…)
This question was put to the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s Executive Vice President of Technical Affairs, Andrew Paterson, who was testifying on behalf of the 250-member gas industry trade group at a House Democratic Policy Committee hearing on Marcellus Shale Air Pollution at Delaware County Community College in Media, PA on October 12, 2011. (more…)
Jesse White [D-146th] isn’t afraid of the Pennsylvania GOP. Quite the contrary. He regularly wrangles with state republicans and Corbett’s DEP. According to a recent press release from his office, “White Legislation Would Make DEP Boss An Independently Elected Position,” he believes this key post ought to be on par with our state Attorney General, accountable to the highest possible authority. In a democracy, that’s the voters.
White Wants YOU! (To Elect The Next DEP Chief)
At first, White just wanted answers. (more…)
PA DEP’s Sharply Criticized, Incomplete Marcellus Production Report
A clean up effort is underway to address a serious data reporting error at The Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania. The overburdened state agency has been cited several times for insufficient records-keeping, yet this latest DEP misinformation incident is proving difficult, if not impossible, to contain. As a result, reliable Marcellus production figures, eagerly sought by both those opposed to fracking as well as those seeking to profit from it, are in dangerously short supply. According to BloombergBusinessweek, Associated Press: Critics Say PA DEP Gas Data Has Serious Flaws.
In what appears to be the PA DEP equivalent of valve failure, the department recently released an incomplete Marcellus production report which, in turn, was derived from sloppy gas driller input. As a result, the official DEP report was missing key information from Chesapeake’s wells in Bradford County – the largest operator in the state’s most heavily drilled county.
Fracts Still Emerging
This isn’t the first time DEP screwed up on important Marcellus production data.
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.
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.
Demand A Sane Energy Future!
STOP THE FRACK ATTACK • Saturday 7.28.12, Washington DC (more…)
Don’t Frack Me, Bro!
A single sane voice in the lamestream media? As early as 2010, msnbc‘s Rachel Maddow has been asking the seemingly obvious questions no one else wants to ask. (more…)
Bechtel, a private water corporation operating in Bolivia, once went so far as to prohibit citizens from collecting rainwater… Sounds extreme, yet are rising water prices in the United States merely the first wave? As shale gas drillers ‘consume’ millions of gallons of fresh water everyday in Pennsylvania, depleting and despoiling local water tables, what will it mean for the million-plus well-water users across the state?
“Water is for life, not for profit!”
Get The Frack Out of Our Drinking Water!
STOP THE FRACK ATTACK! ~ Saturday, July 28, 2012
Sign the Water Bill of Rights via the website for the landmark film, Last Call At The Oasis, by Academy Award-winning director, Jessica Yu, based on the book by Karl Weber. Learn more, start here … (more…)
(i.e. They’re free.) Help yourself, share the wit, and see you at Stop The Frack Attack! on Saturday, July 28 in Washington DC!
Hey Obama: Don’t Pass Gas!
Don’t Frack Your Mother
Thou Shale Not Frack
“Safe Fracking” Is a Fairy Tale
Methane Blows
Kill The Drill
Solar Doesn’t Spill
Frack Barack!
Drill, Baby, Burn!
They Get Rich. You Get Cancer.
Once You Frack, You Can’t Go Back (more…)
Keep Tap Water Safe 