Pennsylvanian communities impacted by fracking make plea to Irish politicians by Leitrim Observer reporter, 21 May 2020
Love Leitrim is highlighting a live-stream webinar called “Frackland” which will see communities in Pennsylvania outlining the impact of fracking on their lives.
This Friday May 22nd communities in Pennsylvania will make a direct plea to Irish politicians to say no to the importation of fracked gas and reject an industry that has done so much to damage public health in the US.
At 5pm there will be a live-stream webinar called “Frackland” which will include personal testimonies of Pennsylvanian communities damaged by the fracking industry.
Love Leitrim state that Irish politicians currently involved in government formation talks are been asked to listen to the moving testimonies of these communities and reject the importation of fracked gas into proposed projects such as Shannon LNG. The Pennsylvanian communities who will be online tomorrow are the same ones from which fracked gas could be imported. The event also aims to draw attention to the still present threat of fracking in Northern Ireland.
Love Leitrim Chairperson Jamie Murphy said “When we in Ireland were successfully campaigning to ban fracking we received tremendous support from American communities. We now need to return that support and say that we as a country will not import fracked gas from exploited communities in Pennsylvania through projects like Shannon LNG. That is the very least we owe them.
“Many eminent scientists and climate experts, and the Youth Assembly on Climate amongst others have spoken of the threat of fracked gas. If there are still politicians out there who believe fracked gas in not a danger to our climate, environment and communities then they should listen to the first hand accounts of Pennsylvanian residents tomorrow at 5pm. We and our friends in the US need a clear policy opposing fracked gas in any programme for government.”
Murphy also encouraged people to keep contacting politicians about the issue via this online petition https://www.foe.ie/ takeaction/no-to-fracking-gas- terminals/
You can watch the stream and join the discussion from a number of place such as the Uplift or Environmental Health Projects page at 5pm on Friday May 22nd.