You’ve Been Fracked

3 Comments

1. 

   rikyrah on June 4, 2012 at 9:23 am

   1. how many of them vote?

   2. how many of them vote GOP?

   • 

     TarheelDem on June 4, 2012 at 12:18 pm

     I wouldn’t indulge in stereotypes.

     Without asking these specific people, there is no way to know.  And most likely they would give you the proper American answer “It’s none of your business.”

     The failure is in the way elections are run and run in the media by all parties.

     And the fact that Pennsylvania has been a mining state that has separated ownership of mineral rights for a very long time.  No party has exclusive ownership of the blame over that long a period.

     This same issue happened with the widespread growth of strip mining in the 1960s and 1970s.

2. 

   Oui on June 4, 2012 at 1:08 pm

   .

   A Friend In Pennsylvania

   (Food & Water Watch) April 19, 2012 – Pennsylvania’s license plates used to read, “You’ve Got a Friend in Pennsylvania.” Thanks to Governor Tom Corbett and new legislation that’s friendly to shale drilling, they ought to make new plates that read, “Fracking’s Got a Friend in Pennsylvania.”

    « click for article
   Is your town on the fracking map?

   The ironic part is that the same Susquehanna River Basin Commission just banned water withdrawals in five counties, including Lycoming County where Aqua America’s withdrawal facility is located because of the drought conditions in the northeast. So, they kicked people out their homes and, for now, the company can’t even withdraw water in a region of the state that’s usually water rich. And the situation looks even worse for Pennsylvania’s future.

   On Monday, a new state law called Act 13 went into effect, billed as a regulating mechanism that would allow Pennsylvania to collect impact fees from drillers, which they did not do previously. But, the controversial Act 13 looks more like another big giveaway to gas drillers, as it hands control over to the Pennsylvania Utility Commission to overturn local zoning laws that would otherwise restrict industry. Now, towns throughout the state cannot establish their own tougher regulations on fracking because they are forced to accept the watered down version that comes with the new law.

   This should come as no surprise considering the shale gas industry donated over $1.6M in contributions to Governor Corbett’s gubernatorial campaign.

   But Act 13 has added insult to injury, literally. If a doctor in Pennsylvania treats a patient from possible exposure to dangerous chemicals from shale gas drilling, Act 13 added a stipulation that prevents that doctor from sharing information about those chemicals. Essentially, Act 13 has created a gag law preventing concerned doctors from educating people about the potential health risks from fracking chemicals. While companies are required by state law to disclose information about their chemicals to health professionals–for the purposes of diagnosis–the new state law requires those health professionals to sign confidentiality agreement. They can’t share that information with the patient they’re treating.  

   Gov. Tom Corbett and $1 million “political campaign contributions” by gas industry interests

   • Ohio Passes One of the Worst Fracking Laws in the U.S.

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."