OUTRAGE: WSJ…Americans
A recent Wall Street Journal editorial comments on hydraulic fracturing in the Northeast. Holman Jenkins refers to hydraulic fracturing/”fracking” as a “new industry” in light of increased land holdings of natural gas companies acquired via leases with individual citizens in rural areas. He likens this situation to waves of “decay and gentrification” in urban areas.
“Fracking divides neighbor from neighbor, roughly speaking the penurious locals from the weekend residents and gentleman farmers.”
“…the sound and fury of the fracking debate is really just of the noise of the fracking phenomenon being domesticated.”
“An entire region of the country is unexpectedly being transformed by a new industry. Toes are being stepped on, but money and politics will slop around in ways designed to reduce the opposition to manageable proportions. That’s what politics is for.”
Jenkins MUST be kidding!!! Fracking contaminates drinking water and decimates forest land (PA STATE forest land, at that.). How is this comparable to the trend of higher-income professionals buying & renovating affordable real estate in previously low-income neighborhoods?!
The Hydraulic fracturing/”Fracking” Debate in a nutshell…
Over a mile below the earth’s surface in many regions of Pennsylvania, there is a mostly untapped reservoir of natural gas in a type of dark rock form known as Marcellus Shale. This resource can be accessed and harvested by drilling into the earth, using a technique called hydraulic fracturing. This involves using water to blast 6,000 feet into the ground. Beginning in 2008, The State of Pennsylvania began to lease hundreds of thousands of acres of State Forest to private drilling companies. Now gas drillers are looking to lease local land in an attempt to find and remove the gas, whose value increases as energy prices soar. The wastewater from hydraulic fracturing contains a variety of sediments, contaminants and toxins. Gas drilling companies are sending their runoff into the surrounding areas, and the toxins are seeping into drinking water supplies.
We cannot allow politicians to “reduce the opposition to manageable proportions”! BE HEARD! Check out these petitions and resources for contacting PA politicians…
Stop Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Drilling
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