Theo Colborn: Letter to the President About Chemicals Disrupting Our Bodies

Theo Colborn of The Endocrine Exchange reads a letter to the President and First Lady. Dr. Colborn is 85 years old- energetic, determined, and knowledgable on the subject of the effects of chemicals on the human body.

Walter Hang Tesitifies at Senate Standing Committee On Energy Conservation Hearing

Walter Hang, president, Toxics Targeting. NYS Public Hearing, Senate Standing Committee on Energy Conservation. Sponsored by NYS Senators Mark Grisanti and Patrick Gallivan to examine waste water produced by hydraulic fracturing. The Inn on the Lake, Canandaigua, NY December 12, 2011.

Email Governor Cuomo: http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact/GovernorContactForm.php

Call Governor Cuomo:

Albany: 518-474-8390
New York City: 212-681-4580
Binghamton: 607-721-8367

Twitter: @NYGovCuomo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GovernorAndrewCuomo?sk=wall

Frack! the Movie Trailer

FRACK! The Movie Trailer from David Morris on Vimeo.


This gives a short glimpse of what happens when unconventional gas drilling comes to town.

Pittsburgh Says No To Gas Drilling

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Hurrah for the City Council of Pittsburgh!  They have voted to ban gas drilling in their city.
The vote was 8-0. 

Read more....

Waterfall Removal (West Virginia)

Chesapeake Energy advertises that they are "A Champion of Natural Beauty."  Now watch as their white pickup trucks drive down this "road" which used to be a beautiful stream and waterfall.

  What is wrong with this picture?

The source of this video wrote:
"Several waterfalls were removed from Blake Run to make a gas development road in Blake Run. The pictured waterfall is at 39°42'17.3" North and 80°41'21.3" West, datum NAD83. The video shows the company's advertisement followed by before and after pictures and company traffic on Blake Run."

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

R.I.P. ROBERT SHIPPEE

1922-2010

SPLASHDOWN Water Drops: Karen Korell's Artistry

Here are some of the little water drops which Karen Korell designed and drew.  Karen died August 30, 2010.  We will all miss her very much.  Her water drops were very unique and were just one example of her creativity and her passion for the environment and public health.

We need clean water.

The gas industry is exempt from The Safe Drinking Water Act

Dirty water cannot be washed.

Can you light your tap water on fire?  Some people can.

Karen fought hard for passage of the FRAC Act.  It is still unpassed.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Gulf Oil Disaster: Views from the air

This video was taken by John L. Wathen.  The images and commentary are heart-breaking.

Visit http://www.bpoilslick.blogspot.com/

Natural Gas Drilling: Know the Drill Video

Chris Bateman made this short video in May of 2010, travelling through NE Pennsylvania and talking with local residents who have been seriously affected by the gas drilling industry.  Their lives have been basically disrupted beyond repair, in other words, ruined.  Listen to what they have to say.  Bad water- can't bathe, can't do laundry, can't drink from the faucet.  Can't sell home.  Afraid of explosions from methane migration.  Is this a viable way of life?

Natural Gas Drilling: Chilling Images of Drilling's Perils

Catskills waterfall

At a recent showing of Josh Fox's award-winning documentary, "Gasland,"  people had two questions on their minds:  Is the risk [from gas drilling] worth the reward?  What's the alternative?  This New York Times article by Peter Applebome portrays a fair and balanced view of the issues which are being debated. It is worth reading.  Laurie Spaeth of the Chenango Delaware Otsego Gas Drilling Opposition Group (http://www.un-naturalgas.org/) said, "As impressive as the technology is, there are going to be accidents.  What they're doing here is not quite as extreme as what they were doing in the gulf [of Mexico], but it clearly has the same potential for devastation."

Read the whole article here.

Natural Gas Drilling: Let's Be Careful

Tom Taylor, Chris Holder, and Peter Gamba of Upstate New York have written this fantastic song!

Democrat and Chronicle Cartoon: Welcome to the Marcellus Shale

From the Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York

Caption: "Here's a quiet place to recover from that deep sea oil spill!"

Sign:  Welcome to the Marcellus Shale- Deep drill here!

Man's shirt reads:  Trust Us X-traction

From the Philadelphia Daily News

Marcellus Shale Gas Blowout in North Central PA: Reporter Is Threatened With Being Shot and Arrested

Enjoying a boat ride on the Western Branch of the Susquehanna River, Clearfield County, Central Pennsylvania

Michael Morrill reports at The Daily Kos that he was threatened and told he might possibly be shot and/or arrested if he didn't leave.  He was trying to investigate the gas well blowout last week in Clearfield County, PA .  Read his astounding account of what happened to him when he showed up during the clean-up with a Flip camera.  The extent to which several gas employees pursued and harrassed him is quite surprising.  We should all know that this is happening. Here is an excerpt from Morrill's diary:

They told me that I was on property owned by Punxsutawney Hunt Club, and the members didn't appreciate trespassers They told me, in a veiled threat, that I should leave now, and as long as I was heading out I would probably not get shot.

Read a related article here.  "PA halts drilling by company after gas accident"

Rachel Maddow Reports on the Gulf Oil Disaster: Deja Vu All Over Again?

Has the oil and gas industry made any improvements in the last 30 years? Yes, says Rachel Maddow, they have! They have improved their profit capabilities, making more money than any other industry in the history of the planet, and they have figured out how to drill deeper and deeper. Any advancements in disaster control or safety techniques?  No. That part hasn't been figured out yet. Isn't it too late now for the Gulf of Mexico, the people, the wildlife, the economies of many communities, the livelihoods of thousands of people, all the ecosystems impacted? Isn't it too late? I think it probably is.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Catastrophe: ProPublica Slide Show

Cleaning an oil-covered pelican

ProPublica is covering the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  These powerful images tell the heart-rending story of what is unfolding there.  This is only the very beginning of decades of destruction and hardship.  Much, much worse than the Exxon Valdez debacle.  Click here to view the slides.

Have we had enough of "Drill, Baby, Drill" yet?  When someone says offshore drilling is usually pretty safe, are we going to fall for that again?

Before There Was Erin, There Was Wilma

Wilma Subra, chemist and environmentalist

Can a 66-year-old grandmother from Louisiana have any impact on the big issues plaguing communities suffering from  the chemical effects of industry?  The answer is yes, if you are talking about Wilma Subra. She is fearless (was the presumed target of a drive-by shooting- the bullet lodged in a brick a few feet from where she was sitting) and tireless (she travels all over the country to talk with people worried about pollution).  Even people who disagree with everything she stands for often come to her when their loved ones fall ill.  They want to know what the prospects are, what might have caused the illness.  Suddenly the issue of chemical contamination becomes personal.  Subra is ready to help.  She carries about 30 active cases at a time.  Some take years to be settled.  She never gives up.  Asked if she is like a modern-day Erin Brockovich, she laughs.  "I've been doing this since way before Erin was doing it."

Read this inspiring article about Wilma Subra here.

Natural Gas Drilling in NEPA: Sadly, This Is How Ordinary Landowners Think

Dushore, Pennsylvania

If someone came to your door and offered to make you a rich person, would you be interested?  Of course.  Even if it meant making a pact with the Devil himself I suppose.  Read the story of one Pennsylvania man, Richard Kriel, who finally succumbed to the pressure of a landman and signed away his 60 acres of land to a gas company.  He is now excited about the prospects of getting what he calls "free money."   The negative consequences of his decision will undoubtedly be revealed as time goes on, but he says he is willing to take the bitter with the better. He said he was given an offer "he couldn't refuse." Mr. Kriel also said:

The last thing I want to see is the water messed up and the fish to die. I don't want to see that.

There is little hope that his wish for everything to go on without a hitch- without a high cost to his environment, his land, and his family- will be a possibility, but I hope he can be the one or two few exceptions. Time will tell. Perhaps Mr. Kriel's dream will come true. He said:

I see it as a potential gold mine.

And I say- I see it as a potential disaster.  Here are some serious incidents that have happened in PA in the last few years.  Does the money seem worth it when you put yourself in danger or possible death?  If something happens, it is a 100% disaster for everyone involved.  There is no such thing as getting back good water after a well or spring is contaminated.  Some things can't be fixed.  A million dollars will not help.

Read the article from the Sun Gazette here.

Marcellus Shale: Professor Dan Volz Challenges Boom Town Sales Pitch

University of Pittsburgh Professor Dan Volz challenges the "boom town" sales pitch for natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale- a model that claims the benefits far outweigh the risks.

"Much is said about the benefits of drilling in the Marcellus Shale," Volz said. "But none of the cost-benefit analyses touted by the gas industry and government take into account what is known as 'public goods'- like impacts on air and water."

Dr. Volz is Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also Director for the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities there.

Volz's point was illustrated in a recent "Energy Report" published by The Wall Street Journal (May 10, 2010). The cover essay is titled, "How Shale Gas Is Going to Rock the World," by Amy Myers Jaffe. Her analysis of shale gas runs more than 2,000 words, yet "environmental risk" is dismissed in 129 words, as observed by Spectra Energy Watch.

Visit Spectra Energy Watch  which inspired this blog post.

Shell Oil Celebrates While the Niger People Suffer

Read Amnesty's report on how SHELL OIL is failing in its business principles in the Niger Delta at

www.amnesty.org.uk/shell

[AGM= Annual General Meeting]

$9.8 BILLION profit for Shell Oil

Polluted soil, polluted rivers, polluted homes, illness, death for the people of Niger Delta

Shale Game: Playing With Unknowns Underground

Sandra Steingraber

[Photo credit: Dede Hatch]

[Published in the May/June 2010 issue of Orion magazine]

Sandra Steingraber has been called the modern Rachel Carson by some.  She is an acclaimed ecologist, author, environmentalist, educator, cancer survivor, and wife and mother.  This article is a short, but impassioned, piece which asks us to think, to think about the possible effects of natural gas drilling, in particular, high-volume slick water hydrofracturing.  She tells of four stories that need our attention in regard to gas drilling: the geological story, the engineering story, the environmental story, and the human story.  Read the whole article here.

On the way home, walking on an unbroken sidewalk made of shale above an as-of-yet unshattered bedrock made of shale, my son said, "We shouldn't wreck this place down, right, Mom?" And his words drew a battle line across my heart.

For more information on Dr. Steingraber, go here.
Her blog can be found here.
She writes a weekly post on The Huffington Post.
Here is an interview with her from terrain.org.

How To Stanch An Oil Volcano: Rachel Maddow Show

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A funny video about a very unfunny catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico....