Wednesday, January 12, 2011

[REVISED/CANCELLED DUE TO ICE STORM] Get ON THE BUS: Next Anti-Fracking Action for Governor Corbett's Inauguration


Posted by: Noël Jones


[THE PREVIOUS CALL TO ACTION BELOW IS CANCELLED DUE TO THE ICE STORM]


NEXT ACTION: Rally in Harrisburg!

There is a big rally planned for Tuesday, January 18th. Please spread the word! Clean Water action plans on carpooling out. Anyone interested in riding the bus to Harrisburg for this event please contact Cathy Frankenberg of Clean Water Action at (610) 691-7395 or by emailing her at cfrankenberg@cleanwater.org

We are making headway all across the state as communities are beginning to stand up and fight this threat to our health, our property values and our way of life (drinking water from the tap in our homes instead of paying to haul and ration it). Easton City Council recently passed a resolution in support of Pittsburgh's ban on fracking, which followed the successful constitutional battles of citizens in Licking Township and Nockamixon, PA to ban fracking for natural gas in their communities as well.

This fight has finally come to our doorstep, as dumping of toxic frack water into the Delaware--our drinking water source for 15 million residents in four states--has recently been reported in the Express-Times.


Other recent news on the health risks related to fracking for natural gas:







Groundwater contamination from fracking in Texas.


150 earthquakes in December alone in Arkansas due to fracking activity.


An article from an economic perspective shows that Marcellus may not be such a hot investment after all.


And finally, this, in Dimock, PA.



There are three film screenings in the near future: Kutztown University will be showing Split Estate on January 29th, Sierra Club will be partnering with Clean Water Action to show Gasland at the Ice House in Bethlehem (tentatively) on February 26th, and Clean Water Action will be screening Gasland for the first time in Allentown at the Allentown Brew Works on February 10th. 


Here again are the trailers to these important films:


GASLAND Directed by Josh Fox (Netflix) (trailer)
Split Estate Directed by Debra Anderson (Netflix) (trailer)


Please mark your calendars and spread the word to anyone who has not seen these films yet--they are the fastest and easiest way to educate the public on this health issue as quickly as possible. The films are also now available on Netflix to watch at home (linked above).


And if there is any way you can get the 18th off, give Clean Water Action a call and reserve a spot on the bus with a friend!

2 comments:

tunsie said...

I cant understand this.why do we have to go to the state capital to ask the govt not to allow dumping into water ways.that is supposed to be ilegal anyway.we shouldnt ask the govt to make federal laws already in place,to be ilegal in easton.......I L--- N---.......Tunsie

noel jones said...

tunsie,

unfortunately the natural gas industry is in the back pockets of a lot of our politicians in Harrisburg, and with our state budget in constant crisis, and demands from school districts all over the state who are also in crisis, it's too easy for most politicians to be attracted to the idea of making the gas companies happy by allowing drilling despite the health risks, while also extracting a severance tax from them so that they can plug budget holes instead of making the necessary cuts in spending that might make them less popular come re-election time.

this rally is taking place in conjunction with the inauguration of our new Governor, Tom Corbett, who is very pro-drilling. the only way that the people are going to win on this is we make it a priority to fight this fight at every opportunity. rallies are important because it is impressive when a lot of citizens show up to protest what their government is doing and they garner press coverage to raise awareness in the public on important issues--in this case that gas companies are dumping poisonous chemicals into our drinking water source, and that it could give our local families cancer and destroy our property values when we have to start paying hundreds of dollars each month to haul water to ration in our homes because we can no longer drink the tap water in our homes!