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For all you GASLAND fans and activists…
New Video from Josh Fox and Bill McKibben:
JOSH FOX and BILL McKIBBEN’s Special Appeal to VP Biden: Save the Delaware!
WATCH THIS VIDEO JOSH FOX AND BILL McKIBBEN HAVE CREATED FOR JOE BIDEN AND THEN PLEASE TAKE THE STEP BY STEP ACTION BELOW:
EASY ACTION STEPS:
1) Send a FAX to the key targets listed below by clicking HERE.
2) Open a new email, copy the letter below, and paste the letter into the email. Next, copy the emails listed below for Joe Biden and the others below (except President Obama) and insert those addresses into the address bar in the email. Sign it and send it.
3) One last step: Open a window to contact President Obama (link below) and paste the email into the window and send it.
VP JOE BIDEN:
Phone: 202-456-1414 (ask to leave a message for both VP Biden AND Pres. Obama)
Fax:202 456 3455
COPY THE LETTER BELOW:
TO: Vice President Joe Biden
CC:
President Barack Obama (http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments)
Jo Ellen Darcy, Army Corps of Engineers for President Obama (ASACWPOC@conus.army.mil)
Governor Jack Markell (Mary.darby@state.de.us)
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden (Attorney.General@state.de.us)
Nancy Sutlley, Council on Environmental Quality (chair@ceq.eop.gov)
Dear Vice President Biden-
DON’T FRACK THE DELAWARE
We respect your integrity, your strength, your leadership and most of all your environmental record.
I am writing to urge you to unequivocally reject the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) proposal to allow gas drilling within the Delaware River Basin. The DRBC received 69,800 public comments on their proposed draft regulations which were overwhelmingly against fracking. They have ignored them and in the process ignored the democratic process. Commissioners who vote to allow fracking are on the wrong side of history and will be held accountable.
Hydraulic Fracturing – or Fracking – is a highly dangerous method of drilling for natural gas that risks the safety of our air, water, and food, and threatens the health of our families, communities, and environment and will undoubtedly put into jeopardy these critical considerations in the Delaware River Basin. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy Science Advisory Board’s own Subcommittee on Shale Gas Production recently recommended “[p]reservation of unique and/or sensitive areas as off limits to drilling. . .”
I urge you to say no to fracking in the Delaware River Basin. The charter of the DRBC calls for it to protect water quality in the basin, and clearly calls for nothing else to be considered above this mandate. There has been more than sufficient evidence, through widely documented incidents of contamination, to overwhelmingly convince any individual willing to look at the facts that a practice as potentially catastrophic as hydraulic fracturing should not be considered in a such sensitive area, the drinking water supply for 15.6 million people.
Do not think that a yes vote on these regulations will go unnoticed or unchallenged in the media or in the public sphere. The New York Times, Pro-Publica, and HBO’s GASLAND 2, to name a few media sources will report on fracking in the watershed and organizations with a very wide reach such as 350.org, Democracy for America, NRDC, Environmental Working Group, Catskill MountainKeeper, Delaware RiverKeeper and literally hundreds of others will be extremely vocal about any drilling allowed in the Delaware River Basin. If the regulations pass and the river basin is industrialized beyond recognition and contaminated, it will be forever the legacy of those who voted yes.
This watershed provides drinking water for more than 15 million people, delivering 1,803 million gallons of water every day to public water supplies. That’s about 5% of the nation’s population – including New York City and Philadelphia – who are depending on this relatively small watershed for safe drinking water every day. From massive water withdrawals to leaks and spills of toxics-laden frack fluid to the generation of millions of gallons of wastewater – sometimes laced with radioactive substances – the for gas drilling to pollute our water is grave. Specifically, and documented in the New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s Hazen and Sawyer Report, slick water horizontal hydraulic fracturing uses around 350,000-400,000 pounds of chemicals per well, many of these extremely toxic and cancer causing. To allow such obviously carcinogenic and dangerous activity near the sole or primary drinking water source for millions of Americans is nothing short of an invitation to disaster.
Moreover, the Delaware River Basin is vital to our ecology and quality of life. Its national park recreation areas are so treasured that 5.4 million visitors come each year to hike, camp, boat, or swim. Drinking water for millions, habitat for wildlife, and recreation for millions: one is hard-pressed to find meaning in the DOE subcommittee’s phrase “unique and or sensitive areas” if you do not apply it to the Delaware River Basin. With this clear and defining policy statement, how could one actually move forward to drill and inject so much chemically laden water into such a sensitive and vital American Treasure?
Moreover, oil and gas industry claims that drilling will aid economic recovery are patently false. In fact, drilling will damage the Basin’s existing economic value. The value of its water supply alone has recently been calculated by a University of Delaware study at $3,767,000 in annual economic value. Looking at the many aspects of economic value that the River provides, this study concludes that “[t]he Delaware Basin contributes close to $22 billion in annual market/non-market value to the regional economy…” Much of that value derives from forests, water supply and high water quality. These are the very assets at risk if natural gas development moves ahead in the Marcellus and Utica Shales, located in the Upper and Middle Delaware River Watershed. More so, many families in Pennsylvania, are already finding that after contamination, the value of their homes has dropped precipitously to what it once was. This is not the economic benefit that, during such a time of economic hardship, should be even be considered.
Surely you have noticed that the only contingents interested in pushing forward with fracking are ones that stand to benefit financially, who consistently dismiss the economic hardships and environmental degradation caused by the collateral damage incurred from this risky practice. This sort of omission and faulty economic analysis leaves the greater public liable for the true costs of contamination in numerous, and painful ways. Giving a yes vote to something that could potentially harm the general public in such a way would be nothing short of granting license to harm millions of Americans for the economic prosperity of a few.
There is an out, just as New York has urged no drilling in its watersheds which serve huge populations (the watersheds for New York City and Syracuse) the Obama Administration and the state of Delaware can vote to disallow fracking in the Delaware river basin which also serves a huge number of people with drinking water.
Currently New York Attorney General has filed suit against the commission for failing in its obligation to complete a cumulative impact study of hydrofracking on the river basin, which is required of the commission by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This means that the DRBC would be violating the law in allowing gas drilling regulations. We urge you to reject all drilling in the river basin flat out, but, at very least, the DRBC is required to do a multi-year cumulative impact study, which would truly assess the impact on the river basin, by federal law.
I strongly urge you to reject the proposed regulations to drill and call on you to protect the Delaware River Basin from fracked gas drilling. Please stand with this National Wild and Scenic River, its communities and habitats, and the more than 15 million people who rely on the Delaware for their water. To do otherwise could be catastrophic, and would surely cement your historic decision to reflect alignment with the polluting fossil fuel industry for generations to come. We voted you into office to serve and protect all of the people, not just the few who wish to profit at all costs.
Please make sure the DRBC votes no on the proposed regulations and insist on a ban in this fragile, scenic, historic, and critical watershed that serves millions of Americans.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO!
Josh
As you know, this blog came out against fracking months ago. We support Josh Fox and Bill McKibben.
Wednesday morning as we proceed down the drain…
Here it is, 30 years to the day, the anniversary of the death of John Lennon at the hands of a young loony. Thirty years! We still listen to Lennon’s music (iTunes has just released all the Beatles stuff for the first time – including the later Lennon stuff) and kids who weren’t even born when Lennon died are just discovering the Beatles and Lennon and buying it up.
From my point of view, it brings me back to a time when we were trying to Give Peace A Chance because All We Need(ed) Is Love. But it didn’t happen. We went into war after war… we blew our budgets and debt up like Macy’s Parade balloons… we put ourselves into a split society which is killing itself (and not slowly any more.) For example: this week we are working as hard as we can to sell our bodies and souls to China and Saudi Arabia by increasing our debt and getting little in return.
This morning I’m watching the comments of Representatives (mostly Democrats) who are pretty pissed off. I hear that Joe Biden is meeting with the House Dems today to tell them that “the deal’s not sealed.” Yeah, sure. This is how they are going to hold Nancy Pelosi off.
The Senate is going to spend a big part of their morning with the ongoing Impeachment Trial of Judge Thomas Porteous. This has been taking up their time all week and, of course, is not taking care of the things the people need to get down to. Only 8 days left, guys.
As to what the Senate is going to do with the Tax Cut Extension legislation, seeing they have to get 60 votes to do anything (thanks to the Republicans requiring the filibuster level vote for EVERYTHING), I’m not sure what’s going to happen. And there are a bunch of Democrats, and the Independent Bernie Sanders, who will do what they can to keep the Obama agreement from going through as well. If we get through December 31 without the Congress passing on this, then the Tax Cut is ended and the taxes go back into play across the board.
And what are we going to do. As the voters, the population as a whole, and 98% of us not rich enough to benefit from what’s going an and all of us split into groups that are designed to not get along with each other by the political controllers who the rich have put into place, what can we do? We write blogs, send letter, call offices and everything else we can do to get our two cents in, and it doesn’t seem to matter.
And as I write this, Judge Porteous seems to be being found GUILTY by a unanimous Senate (at least on article 1 for having a “corrupt financial relationship” with a law firm and failing to recuse himself from a case). Watching these concerned Senators stand up 1 by 1 to vote “guilty” is pretty impressive, considering how many of them, to me are just as guilty of covering up so many things and flat out lying to voters during their campaigns. It reminds me of the lyric from Fiorello, “the only crime is to be caught.”
Related Articles
- Senate Begins Impeachment Trial of Federal District Judge Thomas Porteous (volokh.com)
- Taxes, What Taxes? Senate Starts Impeachment Trial (blogs.abcnews.com)
- The Caucus: And Over in the Senate, An Impeachment Trial for a Judge (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Senate to hold rare impeachment trial for judge (politico.com)
- Imagine | 30 Years Later (onemann.blogspot.com)
- John Lennon Death Anniversary: John Lennon Quotes, Facts, Videos (nowpublic.com)
- “Socialist Bernie Sanders Threatens to Filibuster Obama Tax Deal With Republicans” and related posts (nalert.blogspot.com)
- Remembering John Lennon, by the numbers (cleveland.com)
- The Day John Lennon Died (mirror.co.uk)
- Millions mark John Lennon’s death (mirror.co.uk)
- You: Lennon: Forever young 30 years after death (france24.com)
A look at the impact on history that tomorrow will have…
I’m watching two historians, Douglas Brinkley and Richard Norton Smith, being interviewed on C-Span’s Q&A by Brian Lamb. They are doing a general overview on how our world has changed over the last six decades or so… from WWII through various Presidential Administrations up to and including Obama. Their discussion on how the country has gone from different parties and groups that could get along, all of whom put the country first ahead of party position, eventually turning into radically polluted politics and a malignant society of opposites that refuse to come together.
The election which will, more or less, conclude tomorrow, will emphasize the split between Tea Party supporters reestablishing white control of an increasingly mixed country and Obama Democrats, working to solve problems without bringing everyone together, from both the left and the right, to participate. Smith wonders what would happen if the whole country could be “redistricted”, not by politicians, but by a computer or judges, then everything could change for the better… and districts could compete or even work together to solve problems. It’s one of several ideas both Smith and Brinkley keep proposing, but obviously they are both frustrated with the political world as it is today.
Brinkley expresses the idea that Obama could run in 2012 with Hillary Clinton as VP and Joe Biden as Secretary of State (the job he’s always wanted) and they could come up against Sarah Palin running for President after other Republicans destroy each other in primaries. And, in that situation, they would wipe out what things the Republicans achieve in the 2010 election. Smith, however, predicts that Palin will never run for President. Predictions are very easy to make, moderately easy to justify, and far enough away to be unimportant now.
Whatever happens at the election tomorrow, it will make a new point in our history and the historians here seem to know this and find it a “healthy” situation.
Why you didn’t see Christine O’Donnell on the Sunday Talking heads…
This clip from Talking Points Memo:
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Related Articles
- Karl Rove Says Christine O’Donnell Needs to Explain Witchcraft ‘Dabbling’ to Voters (politicsdaily.com)
- Karl Rove: Christine O’Donnell Needs To Explain Her ‘Witchcraft’ Remarks (mediaite.com)
- Christine O’Donnell Was A Witch! (perezhilton.com)
New Rasmussen Report out on Delaware Senate Race…
O’Donnell has achieved what no one thought would happen a couple of weeks ago… a chance for a Democrat to hold onto the Senate seat once held by Joe Biden.
Here’s a clip:
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Related Articles
- Delaware Senate: Coons 53% O’Donnell 42% (outsidethebeltway.com)
- The first post-primary poll in Delaware (redstate.com)
- Color It Blue? (talkingpointsmemo.com)
This is why I’d like to keep Religion out of Politics
The BBC reporting on Vice President Biden yesterday apparently are unaware of Ash Wednesday… It is too bad they have to be aware of it.
At the end of this video clip the unfortunate reporter realizes her mistake.