In a time of climate emergency, it is wrong to further deepen our dependency on fossil fuels. We assert that fracking is a moral crisis. We are aware that our own beloved Starved Rock State Park is already threatened by industrial mining of silica sand used for fracking operations and that the pressure to strip-mine Illinois for sand will only increase with every well that is drilled and fracked. We have heard the pleas of our neighbors in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, where strip-mining for “ frac sand” has devastated communities, destroyed landscapes, and filled the air with carcinogenic silica dust. We have heard the warnings of our brothers and sisters living in the gas fields of Pennsylvania and Ohio, whose children, pets, and livestock are sick, whose property values are ruined, whose water is undrinkable.
We know these problems cannot be prevented by any set of rules or government office, let alone state agencies like those in Illinois, which have been cut to the bone by budget cuts and cannot be counted on for regulatory enforcement. Leak prodigious amounts of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas. Offer jobs that are dangerous, toxic, and temporary, with a fatality rate seven times that of other industries and Industrialize communities in ways that vastly increase truck traffic, noise pollution, light pollution, stress, crime, and the need for emergency services Release radioactive substances-including radon, which is the number two cause of lung cancer-and benzene, which is a proven cause of leukemia-from deep geological strata įragment forests in ways that decimate birds and wildlife, sabotage natural flood control systems, and pour sediment into rivers and streams Vent hazardous air pollutants that are associated with cancer, asthma, heart attack, stroke, and preterm birth Turn massive amounts of fresh, drinkable water into massive amounts of briny, poisonous flowback fluid for which there is no failsafe disposal solution We know that HVHF and its attendant technologies:Ĭontribute to groundwater contamination, including 219 cases in Pennsylvania alone We know that high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracking, or HVHF, is an accident-prone, inherently dangerous industrial process with risks that include catastrophic and irremediable damage to our health and environment. In a statement, ecologist Sandra Steingraber denounced Illinois’ new fracking regulations and described the need for a movement dedicated to abolishing fracking nationwide.įrom Sandra Steingraber and the people of Illinois to the nation Pro-Fracking Greens Called Out in Ecologist’s New Manifesto Here is a good interview from June 3rd, where Sandra discussed being in jail, and why she went: The backroom negotiations behind the midwestern state’s new fracking regulations may be a taste of what’s to come in other places. Videos originally posted here: Illinois’ Flawed Fracking Law Is Everyone’s Problem, Ecologist Says This is an issue that affects us all, one way or another.
The last one in particular mentions impacts on communities other than where the actual fracking is done, and what else happens with fracked gas leftovers, but all of the videos are well worth watching. To understand what some of the problems with fracking are, watch (or listen) to Sandra Steingraber, scientist, mother, writer, poet, cancer survivor, wisdom woman in this 5 part video series. Why is the government, which is supposed to be looking after the best interests of people, exploring and allowing a technology that will destroy us all if it isn’t stopped?
The CBC article is short and says little, so please watch the video there if you are interested … (it won’t embed and the link to just that also doesn’t work) Russell Ontario sits on black shale, twenty minutes from Ottawa! I’ve seen it mentioned that this is happening in other Ontario communities, as well as elsewhere across Canada. I recently discovered that the Ontario government is exploring opportunities to frack us here too.
#All fracked up cracked
Fracking… It’s not all it’s cracked up to be… It’s a lot more!
0 kommentar(er)
