Don’t believe the oil industry on fracking by John Scott, May 31, 2014, Chico Enterprise-Record
The oil and gas industry tells us on TV that hydraulic fracking is safe. This is so outrageously untrue, because fracking for gas and oil has already destroyed many groundwater aquifers forever, and the property values have dropped to zero. Fracking will go down in history as the greatest manmade disaster in history and its multi-generational impact will be biblical. There are alternatives of energy, but there are no alternatives for water.
Fracking is destroying our American lifestyle and our standard of living. Big oil now wants congressional approval to export our “surplus” oil and gas to foreign countries. This will drive the cost of our energy up, and selling our energy to foreign countries will also allow big oil to keep their profits offshore and again the American taxpayer loses.
We must stay on the moral side of history and protect our groundwater for future generations. Please do not listen to those amongst us that have their moral compass set to the mighty “$” sign. Erin Brokovich and Carly Fiorina said that “if a foreign country did to the U.S. what the frackers are doing to us, we would be at war with them, and if you did this to your neighbor, you would never get out of jail.” The fracking issue is not about the big lie of “jobs and energy independence” but the destruction of the standard of living of all future generations in Butte County.
Support a fracking ban, because this is a moral issue. [Emphasis added]
Pa. conserves toilet water, but allows wasteful fracking by Andy Mager, May 31. 2014, Express-Times
Recently I had the opportunity to drive across major portions of the beautiful state of Pennsylvania. I used the bathrooms at two rest stops along the Pennsylvania Turnpike and was pleased to see they had installed waterless urinals. Such units are estimated to conserve about 30,000 gallons per year.
As I left the restroom, I was struck by a major contradiction. The state is thoughtfully protecting its precious water resources in these bathrooms while simultaneously putting this same water at grave risk by allowing hydrofracking to recover natural gas from deep underground shale formations.
According to National Public Radio, there are nearly 6,400 fracking wells in Pennsylvania. Approximately 4.3 million gallons of fluid (mostly water) is injected into each well. This adds up to 27.5 billion gallons of water, which is intentionally polluted with the secret mixture of chemicals used by the fracking companies.
Many Pennsylvania communities have experienced the direct consequences of the massive industrialization that comes with fracking. While money certainly flows through those areas in the short term, the toxins and health problems that accompany them will be circulating long after the cash dries up.
Responding to citizen pressure, New York State has thus far held off the pressure from the fossil fuel industry. People in Pennsylvania are in a much more difficult situation.
Nonetheless, the fracking train can and must be stopped. Once we do that we can step up the equally necessary work of moving quickly to the renewable energy future, which is our only prospect for averting the worst consequences of climate change. [Emphasis added]