Water is our most Precious Resource

Monday, October 18, 2010

Fight Hydrofracking in the Voting Machine

The midterm elections are coming up very soon. This is one of our biggest opportunities to tell the New York Government: NO FRACKING WAY!! So make sure you know whether your candidates are funded by Big Gas/Big Oil, or are truly interested in representing YOUR health and safety!

I'll tell you right off: Jon Bonacic has flip-flopped on hydrofracking; he conveniently changed his position earlier this year but I can GUARANTEE you that he will flip back to the other side once these elections are over!!

On the other hand, David Sager is a die-hard "NO fracking unless you prove it's safe" candidate. He absolutely has our best interests at heart.

(If you're unfamiliar with the term HYDROFRACKING, please view my YouTube Channel which explains it, or watch GASLAND, an award winning documentary on this horrific practice which is all about GREED and annihilation)

Here's a critical issue. The Army Corps of Engineers has authority of the Delaware River Basin Commission, which is very quickly approaching a deadline where it will decide whether or not to continue a hydrofracking moratorium in the Delaware River area, which includes northern Pennsylvania and southern New York. The Army Corps of Engineer has said, "Go ahead and Frack." President Obama actually authorized this insanity! If you are one of 15 million people who rely on drinking water from the Delaware River (PA, NJ, NY), you need to take action NOW by following the steps below; your voice is critical!!

ACTION: Swamp the DRBC with postcards
Pick up 3 postcards from your post office and, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, mail them with brief handwritten messages (suggestions below) to:
- Carol Collier, Executive Director, DRBC
- Mark Klotz (NYS’ Representative on the DRBC)
- Brigadier General Peter DeLuca (Federal Representative)
C/O Delaware River Basin Commission
25 State Police Drive
P.O. Box 7360
West Trenton, NJ 08628-0360

Hand-write short, simple messages on the postcards such as the following:
“Please do not allow gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin to threaten the drinking water for 15 million people and turn this protected waterway and its basin into an industrial zone.” 

“NYC and Philly have passed resolutions for an extended moratorium to study first before drilling.  That's 10 million people making this request!  Can you hear us now?”

“Dear DRBC: don't make the Delaware watershed an experiment.  Study first before drilling.” 

“Protect our drinking water.  Let science guide policy.  Secure the results of the EPA hydraulic drilling study and the US Geological Survey study first before devising appropriate regulations for drilling.”

“What's the hurry?  No shale gas drilling job is worth the harm to one infant's brain development or one person's organ damage caused by fracking contamination.  Do you want their health (deaths!) on your head?”

ACTION: Write the President
Below is a sample letter on this issue to President Obama for you to add your name, address, and date, or to personalize and revise.  The President must hear from us on this issue and understand that gas extraction is not the path we should pursue when wind and solar energy are the future. (See recent New York Times front page article on the off-shore (East coast) wind energy transmission system investment by Google’s founder:   

Renewable Energy Now!

Sample Letter:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Obama:

I was deeply disappointed to read the article under the headline, “Obama Admin Rejects Timeout for Natural Gas Drilling in N.Y., Pa.” (New York Times September 22, 2010). Moreover, I was horrified to learn that Brig. Gen. Peter "Duke" DeLuca, commander of the North Atlantic Division of the Army Corps of Engineers, declined a request from Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) to use the federal government's vote on the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to seek a temporary ban on gas drilling in the Delaware Watershed until the Commission can complete the first cumulative impact study of drilling’s effects in the Basin.

This watershed provides drinking water to more than 15 million people who live in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey — 5% of the country's population.

I ask for your commitment to (1) instruct Commissioner DeLuca to cast the federal government’s vote on the DRBC in favor of a gas drilling moratorium in the Delaware River Watershed until the EPA’s current study on hydraulic fracturing’s effects on drinking water, and a USGS cumulative impact study have demonstrated its safety; (2) work with Congress to sign The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (FRAC Act) into law to plug the “Halliburton Loophole” and restore EPA regulatory authority over hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Water Drinking Act; and (3) work with Congress to repeal all subsidies for oil and gas drilling and all forms of fossil fuels.

Many communities in Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania, among others, are already suffering from poisoned water supplies and severe air pollution caused by hydraulic fracturing. There have been numerous reports of serious health issues suffered by people in areas where hydraulic fracturing has taken place, and I am greatly troubled by the prospects for long term pollution and public health impacts from this hazardous practice. The majority of the toxic and carcinogenic fracking fluids remain in the ground to migrate potentially into faults, pristine aquifers, and our country’s water supplies.

This is unacceptable. The gas industry continues to tout natural gas a clean “bridge” fuel, even as evidence mounts that the flawed hydraulic fracturing process for extracting natural gas may actually be worse for the environment than coal. We must not sacrifice the health and well-being of future generations and our environment for an ill-advised, short-term energy fix. Instead, we should augment policies on which you campaigned that encourage energy conservation and provide incentives for the development of truly renewable and sustainable green energy.

Hydraulic fracturing and taxpayer subsidies to big oil and gas companies are important issues that have galvanized voters. I implore your Administration to prioritize the vital health and environmental interests of the American people over multi-national corporate drilling interests.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

IF you can take the time to perform these 2 actions, you might just be making an extraordinary difference in the outcome of the Hydrofracking Fight!

Thank you for reading!

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