In 1930, my greatgrandparents purchased a beautiful farm in Bradford County, PA, in a little hamlet called French Azilum. In the summer, we spent time there, resting, breathing in the fresh air, enjoying the wild flowers, the bright stars and planets on a clear moonlit night, and swimming in the Susquehanna River. If gas drilling is allowed to continue, Bradford County and all of Pennsylvania will be forever changed, ruined beyond repair.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Gas Rush Stories: Part Five (Pennsylvania)
Gas Rush Stories, part 5: A Neighbor from Kirsi Jansa Plus 1 year ago
Gas Rush Stories is a series of short documentaries about natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. In the 5th chapter of Gas Rush Stories Pam Judy from Carmichaels, Greene County, tells about her family's experiences living close to a compressor station. Legal Director Joe Osborne from GASP, Group Against Smog and Pollution, explains about the air emissions coming from the shale gas industry.
Watch also: Gas Rush Stories Extra: Joe Osborne, GASP, vimeo.com/38794879
MORE INFO ON GAS RUSH STORIES: gasrushstories.com
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Silica Sand In Wyalusing, PA
Published on Dec 30, 2012
Welcome to the gasfields of PA. Silica sand is used as a proppent in the hydraulic fracturing process. The Wyalusing Silica Sand Transfer Station is located within a mile of 3 public schools and right next to a large daycare center. Silica dust caused silicosis, which is a fatal disease.
Environmental scientist Dr. Yuri Gorby and retired UAW Health and Safety Officer Joe Shervinski are featured in the video.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Sean Lennon's Anti-Fracking Anthem: "Don't Frack My Mother"
Music: Sean Lennon
Directors: Sarah Sophie Flicker, Maximilla Lukacs and Tennessee Thomas
Video Producer: Rebecca Fernandez
Editor: Maximilla Lukacs
The artists of Artists Against Fracking worked together to create this music video for "Don't Frack My Mother," Sean Lennon's very own anti-fracking anthem. This is the perfect time to celebrate our progress. In case you missed it, the New York State Assembly passed a two-year moratorium on fracking in New York. But this is also the perfect time to keep the pressure up! The bill's not a done deal. It still has to pass the State Senate and then get signed into law by Governor Cuomo.
Here's a list of all the artists who appear in it:
•Adrian Grenier •Alexa Chung •Ben Lee •Carrie Fisher •Daniel Pinchbeck •Devendra Banhart •Fred Armisen •Ione Skye •Joseph Gordon-Levitt •Josh Fox •Liv Tyler •Lindsey Wixson •Maggie Gyllenhaal •Mark Ronson •Melissa Auf Der Maur •Michael Skolnik •Natasha Lyonne •Penn Badgley •Reggie Watts •Sean Lennon •Susan Sarandon •Yoko Ono •Zoë Kravitz And band members from: •Au Revoir Simone •Black Lips •Cibo Matto •The Citizens Band •The Like •The Strokes •Wilco •Wild Belle
Issues: environment, energy, oil, gas, pollution, climate, climate change, new york, fracking, art, new york city, natural gas, artists, celebrities
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Natural Gas Drilling: Resource Curse?
"When it comes to long-term economic development, there’s ample
evidence to suggest that counties where drilling occurs will be in
worse shape down the road, and that even during the drilling and
producing phases, there will be a few winners and likely a whole lot
of losers, especially among lower-income individuals. Furthermore, the
areas targeted for drilling are often the ones already struggling
economically, which means less wealthy individuals and communities may
become further impoverished."
I have heard quite often, particularly from Bradford County (PA) residents who love gas drilling, that I should mind my own business, since I don't live in the county. They say gas drilling is the best thing that ever happened to them. They think it is selfish of me to want to block their economic advantage for the sake of environmental and health concerns. This article may cast some light on just how advantageous gas drilling will turn out to be, especially for poor, rural areas even though people there may see gas drilling as a way to prosperity in the short term at least. If the people who were visited by the landmen and women a few years back had been well off financially, would they have signed those gas leases?
Read the article here.
evidence to suggest that counties where drilling occurs will be in
worse shape down the road, and that even during the drilling and
producing phases, there will be a few winners and likely a whole lot
of losers, especially among lower-income individuals. Furthermore, the
areas targeted for drilling are often the ones already struggling
economically, which means less wealthy individuals and communities may
become further impoverished."
I have heard quite often, particularly from Bradford County (PA) residents who love gas drilling, that I should mind my own business, since I don't live in the county. They say gas drilling is the best thing that ever happened to them. They think it is selfish of me to want to block their economic advantage for the sake of environmental and health concerns. This article may cast some light on just how advantageous gas drilling will turn out to be, especially for poor, rural areas even though people there may see gas drilling as a way to prosperity in the short term at least. If the people who were visited by the landmen and women a few years back had been well off financially, would they have signed those gas leases?
Read the article here.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Marcellus Shale Exposed: Tony Ingraffea Speaks
Published on Apr 3, 2012
Video by Cris McConkey. "Unconventional Gas Development from Shale: Myths and Realities Related to Human Health Impacts". Keynote address by Anthony Ingraffea at Marcellus Shale Exposed, held March 17, 2012 at Northampton Community College, Bethlehem, PA. In his presentation, Dr. Ingraffea decimates four myths central to the shale gas industry: (1) Fracing is a 60-year old, well-proven technology; (2) Fluid Migration from faulty wells is a rare phenomenon; (3) The use of multi-well pads and cluster drilling reduces surface impacts; and (4) Natural Gas is a clean fossil fuel. This video is in three parts. The first part deals largely with well integrity, or lack there-of due to inevitible cement failures and human health impacts The second part deals with methane emissions from the shale-gas industry, and the imperative of reducing this powerful greenhouse gas immediately. The last part is the Q and A, Dr. Ingraffea is the Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell and a co-founder of Physicians, Scientists Engineers for Sustainable and Healthy Energy. His research and modelling of hydraulic fracturing, funded by Schlumberger, have been foundational.