May 31, 2010
They didn’t die
for eminent domain
or Made in China
or farmland foreclosure…
2 Comments | "fracking", Allegheny National Forest, Back Mountain PA, community, Constitution, Delaware River, eminent domain, government, horizontal fracturing, industrial zone, Landmen, lobbyists, Memorial Day, miscellaneous, Penn's Woods, secret ingredients, State Constitution, Susquehanna River, Un-natural Gas, water | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 30, 2010
The Citizens’ Voice chose a holiday weekend Saturday to squeak out its opinion that: Drilling’s OK, but commonwealth must be protected. Below is their piece followed by my letter to them.
Development of the Marcellus Shale gas formation has followed lines that generally have applied to resource extraction throughout the nation’s history.
There are substantial economic benefits and substantial environmental costs. Folks doing the actual extraction work hard and play hard, bolstering the local economy but not always in accordance with local cultural and behavioral standards. Some people profit; some people suffer losses through affected property values. The government plays catch-up because the industry drives the market and the technology.
All of that has played out in the early days of the Marcellus Shale Development. Yet there also is a broad, sensible and achievable consensus that the gas can be extracted in a way that boosts the economy without devastating the environment.
The problem is that the political debate, as political debates often are, has been driven from the ends of the spectrum rather than the middle.
As a bill in Harrisburg to establish an 8 percent “severance” tax on gas extraction has begun to move, for example, anti-tax Republicans have claimed that it would stifle further development of the Marcellus Shale field. It’s a remarkable assertion, because similar taxes just about everywhere that gas drillers operate have done nothing of the kind. Rather, those taxes are considered by the industry as part of the cost of doing business.
The plan is for an 80-20 split of the proceeds among the state government and affected local governments, which could use the money for regulatory enforcement and to mitigate the impact on roads on other infrastructure.
In Harrisburg this week, state police contended that crime has increased in drilling areas, a downside to the boom that few had anticipated. That requires continued vigilance, and also is a good argument for the severance tax, part of which could be directed to law enforcement in affected areas. It also should be an incentive to expedite the training of more local workers for jobs in the expanding industry.
Industry estimates indicate that gas extraction could be a major industry across much of Pennsylvania for as long as a century. Lawmakers should move now to ensure that the commonwealth at large benefits from the boom, and that the environmental and social costs are mitigated.
Not OK
Regarding your May 29 editorial titled “Drilling’s OK, but commonwealth must be protected”: You conclude by stating “Lawmakers should move now to ensure that the commonwealth at large benefits from the boom, and that the environmental and social costs are mitigated.”
To mitigate means to lessen. I guess more crime is OK, just not too much? Dead aquifers are OK, just not too many? You also claim there is a “broad” consensus that this gas extraction can be done without “devastating the environment”. Just where is this broad consensus? In the clubhouse?
4 Comments | "fracking", Back Mountain PA, Ceasetown Dam, community contamination, Constitution, eminent domain, Halliburton loophole, horizontal fracturing, hydrocarbons, industrial zone, lobbyists, Marcellus Shale, miscellaneous, moratorium, NEPA, Penn's Woods, Pennsylvania, pipeline, politicians, pollution, radioactive mud, secret ingredients, Susquehanna River, Un-natural Gas, water contamination, Wyoming Valley | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 30, 2010
“The world’s whole petroleum resource is estimated at a million terawatts, which happens to be equal to the amount of solar energy that reaches the earth every day.”
above quote from The Independent Home by Michael Potts
Just as the world is moving forward with sustainable and alternative energy sources and management, we are allowing our piece of it to be raped and plundered by Big Gas.
Just as the United States consumers are buying more and more locally, we allow our farmland to become an industrial zone.
We are willing to let a small minority of our fellow citizens pollute the resources one hundred percent of us use. What is sane or democratic about that? We all share this halo of air and water.
Our aim should be to make each home energy independent. No monthly bills. That is what we can leave our children. That would be American.
5 Comments | "fracking", American, community, community contamination, Constitution, cost externalization, eminent domain, extraction economy, gas lease, Halliburton, horizontal fracturing, hydraulic fracturing, hydrocarbons, lobbyists, Marcellus Shale, maximization of profit, Memorial Day, miscellaneous, moratorium, Mother Earth, Penn's Woods, Pennsylvania, politics, pollution, radioactive mud, secret ingredients, Susquehanna River, sustainability, Un-natural Gas, water contamination, Wilkes-Barre | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 29, 2010
Royal Dutch Shell to buy U.S. owner of shale gas holdings
International energy firms have aggressively sought a bigger foothold in the U.S. oil shale industry.
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Friday it will buy East Resources Inc., a major owner of shale gas holdings in the northeast United States, for $4.7 billion from private investors.
Europe’s largest oil company said it will pay cash for East Resources, a Pennsylvania company that owns more than 2,500 oil and natural gas wells in the United States. It also controls 1.25 million acres of land, mostly in the energy-rich Marcellus Shale region that runs from New York to southwest Virginia.
Shell CEO Peter Voser said the acquisition fit with plans to “grow and upgrade” its holdings of shale gas in North America.
International energy companies have aggressively sought a bigger foothold in the U.S. oil shale industry, even with natural gas prices slumping to less than half of what they were in 2008.
Earlier this year, Japanese energy giant Mitsui Co. said it would pay $1.4 billion for a stake in Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s shale assets. India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. also recently paid $1.7 billion for part of Atlas Energy’s shale gas deposits.
See rest of article via link above.
4 Comments | "fracking", cost externalization, Energy Policy, hydraulic fracturing, industrial zone, lobbyists, Marcellus Shale, miscellaneous, moratorium, New York City, Penn's Woods, Range Resources, secret chemicals, Un-natural Gas, water, water contamination | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 28, 2010
If this evil and blatant usury of our land is not stopped by our elected and sworn representatives by listening to reason, constituents, and the constitution – if they wimp out on their duty to make sure anything done to this state is done right or not at all; if this illegal attack supplants democracy – then democracy will be wrestled back, one way or another.
2 Comments | "fracking", 2-Butoxylethanol, air contamination, Allegheny National Forest, Back Mountain Community Partnership, Baker, benzene, biocides, Boback, Ceasetown Dam, Chromium-6, community contamination, community readiness, Constitution, cost externalization, Delaware River, DEP, Dimock, Dunkard Creek, eminent domain, EnCana, Endocrine Disruption Exchange, ethane, extraction economy, fish kill, flaming water, FrackMountain Poetry Project, government, Halliburton, Halliburton loophole, Huntsville Dam, hydraulic fracturing, hydrocarbons, industrial zone, Jackson Township, Kayak Dude, Lake Township, Landmen, lawyers, Lehman Township, lobbyists, Marcellus Shale, maximization of profit, Memorial Day, methane, miscellaneous, moratorium, Mundy, natural gas, Oil and Gas Act, Penn's Woods, Pennsylvania, policy, politicians, politics, pollution, property value, radioactive mud, Rendell, secret chemicals, State Constitution, Susquehanna River, Un-natural Gas, values, violations, water contamination, Wyoming Valley, Zoning Board - Luz Co | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 24, 2010
Gas Drilling Will Bring You:
Lower Property Values
Higher Taxes
Polluted and Unusable Water Sources
Toxic Waste (heavy metals, carcinogens, brine and radioactive materials)
Open Waste Pits
Undisclosed Chemicals
Endocrine Disruptors
Carcinogens Left Underground
Air Pollution
Depleted Water Habitat
Noise Pollution
Eminent Domain
Loss of Farmland
Loss of Tourism
Disrupted Wildlife Habitat
Higher Crime Rate
Increased Drug Use
Choking Truck Traffic
Broken Roads
Increased Accidents
Lower Quality of Life (why do you love this place?)
Earth Shaking
Fractured Bedrock Below (where 10 to 30 tons of chemicals per well, liberated radioactivity, brine, and heavy metals are left underground to slowly migrate toward your family’s water supply)
Educate yourself and take action to stop this now! The first well is drilling this August. Don’t be fooled by the propaganda you see on television and billboards. 1.5% percent of the county households will benefit, 98.5% will suffer.
NOTE – Add on top of this: mismanagement, acts of nature, maximization of profit, and out of state corporations. Then mix in weakened laws and a depleted DEP. And put it all in the context of rapid expansion. Isn’t this a case for MORATORIUM!?
7 Comments | "fracking", 2-Butoxylethanol, air contamination, Back Mountain PA, benzene, biocides, Ceasetown Dam, Chromium-6, community contamination, Constitution, cost externalization, DEP, Dimock, Dunkard Creek, eminent domain, EnCana, Endocrine Disruption Exchange, ethane, extraction economy, flaming water, Halliburton, Halliburton loophole, hydraulic fracturing, hydrocarbons, industrial zone, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Landmen, Lehman Township, lobbyists, Luzerne County, Marcellus Shale, methane, miscellaneous, moratorium, Oil and Gas Act, Penn's Woods, Pennsylvania, politicians, pollution, property value, radioactive mud, secret chemicals, Susquehanna River, water contamination, Wilkes-Barre, Wyoming Valley | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 21, 2010
Obviously, the Sun is NOT a good source of energy.
Leave a Comment » | "fracking", Cheney, community contamination, Constitution, cost externalization, DEP, eminent domain, EnCana, Energy Policy, extraction economy, Halliburton, Halliburton loophole, Huntsville Dam, hydraulic fracturing, industrial zone, Lake Township, lobbyists, Luzerne County, Marcellus Shale, maximization of profit, miscellaneous, Oil and Gas Act, Penn's Woods, Pennsylvania, politics, pollution, secret ingredients, Un-natural Gas, water contamination, Wilkes-Barre, Wyoming Valley | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 19, 2010
The beast is circling and beginning to take bites, a variance here, a clearing there. Soon will come a train of trucks carrying the rig. Like a missile on parade in Red Square, it might as well have a hammer and sickle on its side. The bit will drive into the bone of Mother Earth and leave her contaminated. This will happen in front of those who allow it.
Those who refuse to sign a lease will soon be tied down and forced to witness the rape. If big gov and big gas have their way, eminent domain will be granted to those who pipe the gas. You thought you could make a stand? Not in Corporate America (the former United States).
See Companies seek eminent domain status to lay gas pipelines:
9 Comments | "fracking", 2-Butoxylethanol, air contamination, Back Mountain PA, benzene, biocides, Ceasetown Dam, Chromium-6, community, community contamination, community readiness, Constitution, cost externalization, eminent domain, EnCana, ethane, extraction economy, Fairmount Township, fish kill, flaming water, FRAC Act, FrackMountain Poetry Project, gas lease, government, Halliburton loophole, hydraulic fracturing, hydrocarbons, industrial zone, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Landmen, lobbyists, Luzerne County, maximization of profit, methane, miscellaneous, moratorium, Mother Earth, NEPA, Penn's Woods, Pennsylvania, pipeline, politicians, politics, pollution, property value, radioactive mud, secret chemicals, Susquehanna River, Un-natural Gas, values, water, water contamination, Zoning Board - Luz Co | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 19, 2010
Leave a Comment » | "fracking", air contamination, comedy, cost externalization, EnCana, extraction economy, flaming water, GDAC, hydraulic fracturing, industrial zone, lobbyists, miscellaneous, Penn's Woods, Pennsylvania, policy, politics, pollution, property value, radioactive mud, secret chemicals, water, water contamination, Wilkes-Barre, Wyoming Valley | Permalink
Posted by qazse
May 18, 2010
On the drilling issue, I will vote:
Hoeffel D Governor
Sestak D US Senate
(The only reason I am a registered Democrat is to vote in their primary.)
Leave a Comment » | candidates, election day, miscellaneous, Pennsylvania, politicians, politics, primary elections | Permalink
Posted by qazse