PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

toxic gas drilling must be banned
by Maria Ensign Sunday, Jul. 05, 2009 at 1:18 PM

I found this on the Cleveland Indymedia site. It's about a New York City pol who is trying to cut deals with a few NIMBY homeowners and the gas industry. Seems they're even deploying a crappy egomaniacal film-maker, Josh Fox, who is defending sell-outs like this guy (Councilmember James Gennaro) (his film is REALLY bad!)

These people have it straight! Taking on fake "environmental" organizations and their sleazy political allies who compromise with the extremism of the gas industry.

I hope OGAP, the NRDC, and Senator Casey get real about supporting gas drilling that is devastating rural america and stealing people's land through eminent domain!

The flyer at the end of this thread is particularly cool.

But the discussion is enlightening too!

http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2009/06/105774.html#unitedStates

Harrisburg

22 S. Third Street, Suite 6A
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: (717) 231-7540
Toll Free: (866) 461-9159
Fax: (717) 231-7542
Philadelphia

2000 Market Street, Suite 1870
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 405-9660
Fax: (215) 405-9669
Pittsburgh

Regional Enterprise Tower
425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2490
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: (412) 803-7370
Fax: (412) 803-7379
Northeastern PA

409 Lackawanna Avenue, Suite 301
Scranton, PA 18503
Phone: (570) 941-0930
Fax: (570) 941-0937
Erie

17 South Park Row, Suite B-150
Erie, PA 16501
Phone: (814) 874-5080
Fax: (814) 874-5084
Central PA

817 E. Bishop Street, Suite C
Bellefonte, PA 16823
Phone: (814) 357-0314
Fax: (814) 357-0318
Lehigh Valley

840 Hamilton Street, Suite 301
Allentown, PA 18101
Phone: (610) 782-9470
Fax: (610) 782-9474

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action!
by Tolomy Schlossburg Sunday, Jul. 05, 2009 at 1:19 PM

Dear REAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS:

Did you know that the oil and gas industry, thanks to Dick Cheney and his old friends at Halliburton, are exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the National Environmental Policy Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA),and the Toxic Release Inventory under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act (EPCRA)?

That's right: thanks to provisions slipped into the highly-controversial Energy Policy Act of 2005 at the request of Halliburton, Exxon and a handful of other corporations, the oil and gas industry does not have to comply with critical provisions of these laws!

Instead of reversing all of the exemptions granted in 2005, a few Democratic legislators, with the help of inside-the-beltway environmental organizations, are introducing legislation which would sacrifice rural communities, their farmland, forests, water, air, and soil to the gas drillers, so that urban areas can get "clean" natural gas.

H.R. 2766, introduced by Diana DeGette (D-CO), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Jared Polis (D-CO); and S. 1215, introduced by Bob Casey (D-PA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), would only remove the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption. This might protect municipal water supplies, but would leave most of the land area in the US open to drilling.


Take action today!

Call the sponsors, as well as your congressperson and senators:

Tell them America doesn't need half measures; we need real change.

Tell them the gas drilling industry should not benefit from any exemptions granted under the Dick Cheney 2005 Energy Policy Act.

Tell them to begin the end of fossil fuel extraction now, by enacting a carbon tax.

Tell them to protect all of the water in the US, not just public water supplies.

Representative Hinchey: 202.225.6335
Representative Jared Polis: 202. 225.2161
Representative Diana DeGette: 202.225.4431

Senator Chuck Schumer (New York): 202.224.6542
Senator Robert Casey (Pennsylvania): 202.224.6324


...

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Importance of action
by Harriet Stein Sunday, Jul. 05, 2009 at 1:20 PM

Thanks for including an action we can take. This is often overlooked even by REAL environmentalists.

I'll take this action!

H Stein

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center column?
by clarity Sunday, Jul. 05, 2009 at 8:19 PM

wow! This seems pretty important and to have both local and regional/national relevance too.


Why isn't this in the center column? Or at least under local?

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international relevance
by Sheepdog Monday, Jul. 06, 2009 at 7:51 AM

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Yes, of course, international relevance.
by bobbie Monday, Jul. 06, 2009 at 3:44 PM

good point.

Baku, Kazakhstan, Russia, Nigeria, Peru.

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