On this beautiful Tuesday afternoon in June 2010, I sat with my son to watch 'Gasland' by Josh Fox. It was shocking and compelling! The fact that Josh is from PA piqued our interest in that he is "one of us" and will be affected the same as we will if the Oil and Gas companies are allowed to expand their drilling into Marcellus Shale.
I've been in two meetings prior to seeing this movie where the local Democrats discussed how we should tax the industry to bridge a budget gap. I would say that no amount of money should supercede the health of the people in the state of PA.
Josh did an excellent job of detailing the effects of the hydraulic fracking:
www.gaslandmovie/whats-fracking
Essentially they inject up to 597 chemical compounds into the earth in order to break up the rocks, etc. to set the gas free. This takes 80,000 pounds of chemicals and 70% of which remains in the ground. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the water used in combination with these chemicals will end up in a basin, tribuatry, lake, stream, river...etc. You get the picture!
Not all of us have the benefit of public water; many of our friends and neighbors have wells from which they draw their drinking, bathing, washing water from. These people are getting sick in records numbers shortly after the drilling commences and the Oil and Gas companies deny the unsafe drinking water exists. They claim to test it but Josh has proven them wrong. Independent lab tests determined that the water is completely unsafe for any living creature to consume.
After filming the people lighting their own water on fire, I believed the Independent lab! There was one chemical that was most compelling that prevented fish from growing gills and people experiencing tissue and brain damage. Animals were losing their hair and were getting sick and dying. Incredibly sad!
How did this all come about? You guessed it, good old Dick Cheney and Halliburton. The bill that passed back in 2005 allowed the Oil and Gas industries to be immune to the EPA laws. They were also permitted to drill on public land. Does anyone remember that? Well, no one has reported on the side effects of that yet.....
Halliburton seems to be doing the bidding of the "Money First" people in this country. From Iraq, to the Gulf, to Natural Gas drilling we are being raped and pillaged. Where's the media on this one? Hmm, well, they dropped the ball once again (just like they did prior to the Iraq invasion). We can't even blame the regulatory bodies in this; this industry was treated like diplomats get treated from other countries...immune from laws and prosecution!
I am just one person, I would love to make a difference in my life time. Anyone want to join me?
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The Oil Crisis
As I watched and listened to Rachel Maddow interview Rep. Markey, it hit me that one sentence like a brick in the head. "With complacency comes disaster!" Yes Congressman, it does.
The Regulatory agencies of our Federal government have allowed the big corporations to rape and pillage the American people without so much as a kiss. The Oil industry is only one of many. Yes, they weren't regulated. You might also argue that they were in collusion over their back-up disaster plans. I would love to see Congress investigate and come across and "industry insider" who would be willing to put up the shared document that they all plagiarized from. You know it exists, it's just a matter of who has it or was it "destroyed in the fire?"
One may also argue that there are other industries that deserve a regulatory "look see" like the Financial Industry. Take a look back and you will find a trail of monies contributed to members of Congress to stop the regulations and to repeal those very same laws that were drafted back in the 20's & 30's that stopped this type of disaster from happening. Boy, they really let money cloud their judgement and now we all have to pay for their indiscretions. The "Good 'Ole Boy" network is alive and well. The heart is beating and they still have yet to learn from their mistakes; and Congress is too cowardly to do anything about it!
Then there is the Media. Yes, I saved the best for last! This has been a point for contention for me for years now and it's coming to a head yet again. To those of you who do not have the benefit of watching/reading alternative media (i.e. MSNBC, Blogs, etc.) may not realize the magnitude of the ineptness of our Main Stream Media. They are currently creating the news; not reporting.
Fox News is a prime example. They have become the mouth piece of the Far Right Republican Party and will not only lie, but they will create stories that don't even exist or pull something out of context and say it's "news." The Media used to be regulated and was held to a high standard whereby we could trust that they were being honest with us and that we could walk away and feel more informed. Those days ended when the monopolies formed. Yes, there are monopolies in the Media and no one is calling them out because their bosses are pulling the strings so that this will not come to light.
The People Magazine reporting is pervasive and it's only because people buy it by watching. Nothing is worth watching these days unless it's "titillating" or controversial. The dumbing-down of America is working and our government is partially to blame! FCC needs to get off its butt and do something to change this!
I have always said that "He who controls the media, controls the world" and this has held true. If all you watch is Fox, then you believe that our country is falling to pieces and that Obama is the Anti-Christ who wasn't born here and shouldn't be President. You would also believe that he hasn't done anything in office when nothing could be further from the truth. Obama isn't perfect but at least he's trying (that's more than I can say about his predecessor).
There are so many more issues that I could bring to light here but it's overwhelming at best to think about. The above 3 are my top three issues that I would like to see Congress address. Rachel Maddow was right, we need a new energy policy TODAY; there is no time to waste. With this crisis comes opportunity and it's time for us to step up and change our way of life. If we don't do it now, then we will never recover from the Oil crisis nor the Economic crisis.
The Regulatory agencies of our Federal government have allowed the big corporations to rape and pillage the American people without so much as a kiss. The Oil industry is only one of many. Yes, they weren't regulated. You might also argue that they were in collusion over their back-up disaster plans. I would love to see Congress investigate and come across and "industry insider" who would be willing to put up the shared document that they all plagiarized from. You know it exists, it's just a matter of who has it or was it "destroyed in the fire?"
One may also argue that there are other industries that deserve a regulatory "look see" like the Financial Industry. Take a look back and you will find a trail of monies contributed to members of Congress to stop the regulations and to repeal those very same laws that were drafted back in the 20's & 30's that stopped this type of disaster from happening. Boy, they really let money cloud their judgement and now we all have to pay for their indiscretions. The "Good 'Ole Boy" network is alive and well. The heart is beating and they still have yet to learn from their mistakes; and Congress is too cowardly to do anything about it!
Then there is the Media. Yes, I saved the best for last! This has been a point for contention for me for years now and it's coming to a head yet again. To those of you who do not have the benefit of watching/reading alternative media (i.e. MSNBC, Blogs, etc.) may not realize the magnitude of the ineptness of our Main Stream Media. They are currently creating the news; not reporting.
Fox News is a prime example. They have become the mouth piece of the Far Right Republican Party and will not only lie, but they will create stories that don't even exist or pull something out of context and say it's "news." The Media used to be regulated and was held to a high standard whereby we could trust that they were being honest with us and that we could walk away and feel more informed. Those days ended when the monopolies formed. Yes, there are monopolies in the Media and no one is calling them out because their bosses are pulling the strings so that this will not come to light.
The People Magazine reporting is pervasive and it's only because people buy it by watching. Nothing is worth watching these days unless it's "titillating" or controversial. The dumbing-down of America is working and our government is partially to blame! FCC needs to get off its butt and do something to change this!
I have always said that "He who controls the media, controls the world" and this has held true. If all you watch is Fox, then you believe that our country is falling to pieces and that Obama is the Anti-Christ who wasn't born here and shouldn't be President. You would also believe that he hasn't done anything in office when nothing could be further from the truth. Obama isn't perfect but at least he's trying (that's more than I can say about his predecessor).
There are so many more issues that I could bring to light here but it's overwhelming at best to think about. The above 3 are my top three issues that I would like to see Congress address. Rachel Maddow was right, we need a new energy policy TODAY; there is no time to waste. With this crisis comes opportunity and it's time for us to step up and change our way of life. If we don't do it now, then we will never recover from the Oil crisis nor the Economic crisis.
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