If You Travel to Pennsylvania — DON’T Drink the Water!!!!
When you’re about to go traveling to some sort of primitive backward country, you get all these warnings about unsanitary drinking water. The water is full of excrement because of inadequate/non-existent sewage. And/or the water is full of hazardous industrial wastes because of non-existent government oversight.
Travelers are always urged to bring water purification tablets that can be dissolved in the water, which will (hopefully) remove the most hazardous substances. Or drink water only at an upscale hotel or restaurant where all drinking water has (supposedly) been boiled already. Or drink only bottled water.
So, remember these precautions if you plan on visiting one of those third world backwater places like, oh, Afghanistan, Haiti, Nepal, Somalia, Pennsylvania…
There’s been a huge increase in natural gas drilling in the U.S. Almost every state has laws to protect local residents from toxic levels of strontium and barium, which are byproducts of natural gas drilling. Every state, that is, except good old freedom-loving Pennsylvania. Tell them whiny treehuggers to man up and take their strontium and barium. It’ll put hair on their chests.
Those well-intentioned-but-fuzzy-headed liberals probably want a government takeover of the natural gas industry. When Obama’s Fascists came for the natural gas drillers, I did nothing. Then, when they came for me…
Most of Pennsylvania’s natural gas drilling has been in the huge underground rock formation called the Marcellus Shale. And because Pennsylvanians love freedom and hate meddling bureaucrats, the local waterways are dumping grounds for the toxic wastes produced by hydraulic fracturing, aka “fracking.”
During a recent 12-month period, 3.6 million barrels of these waste products were sent to treatment plants that empty into nearby rivers. Mmmmm…Thirsty?
Labels: barium, fracking, hydraulic fracturing, Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania, strontium
posted by Tom Harper @ 7:57 PM
12 Comments:
You know who drank clean water? Stalin!!!
Environmental Groups have been calling clean water not just our nation's but our worlds most endangered resource.
If just one conservative organization had climbed on board, we could love this problem.
Erik
When you are in Love the whole world's a Love Canal
This situation in Pennsylvania creates a potential nightmare scenario for Democrats, liberals especially.
Traditionally, the Democratic Party has been solidly for working-class people and their issues, and those people have supported Democrats. They were the backbone of the coalition that kept FDR in the White House for four terms and then elected Truman.
A big reason for last November's "shellacking" is that a whole lot of working-class people in the old industrial (rust belt) regions stretching north and west from Pennsylvania to Michigan and Wisconsin (and elsewhere) either didn't bother to vote or voted Republican or tea party.
It appears those working-class folks don't feel Democrats are doing much to help them, as opposed to helping gays, blacks and Hispanics. As opposed to Democrats sucking up to the businesses that abandoned them in favor of the South and West. As opposed to watching out for more-affluent upper middle class types.
Now, along comes rapid development of natural gas through fracking. For a good many people and depressed communities, that means jobs, paychecks and tax revenues. That means making a lot more than McD's or Wal Mart pay. It might not be like the days when coal mines, locomotive works, steel factories and such made Pennsylvania a very well off state, but it still feels good to a lot of people who've been down a long time.
Let Democrats come along with gonzo ecological and safety rules, or shut down fracking altogether, and what do you suppose the reaction of those working-class people is going to be?
Fracking is dirty, destructive, dangerous and should to be reined in, if not outlawed. But doing either won't win Democrats the undying gratitude of a good many people who, ironically, will be harmed by fracking's side effects. They need those jobs.
On top of everything else, natural gas is a relatively clean-burning fuel that's less harmful to the environment than oil and coal.
Something should be done about fracking, absolutely. Just be aware it's not a simple good-vs.-bad issue, economically, politically or ecologically.
S.W. Anderson, these are excellent points you make and present a dilemma for sure. However, sometimes we need protecting from ourselves, do we not?
Maine's got no natural gas, but we sure have a lot of water. Just ask Poland Spring.
SW Anderson is on target I think. There are many setbacks in our immediate future when addressing the environment and what we plan to do to it.
Pocketbook issues trump other issues every time.
"Precious Bodily Fluids", hmmm..
"Purity Of Esense", hmmm...
That's IT!...P. O. E.
That's the CODE,!!!!
Thank you Mandrake!
Thanks for the post. The Marcella Shale drilling in Pa. has been a concern of mine for quite some time.
S.W. Anderson nailed it. Thanks
Why don't all you hippies go frack yourself.
Thanks RepubliCorp! It's going to get worse.
FreeRepublik: Oh My God! In that case, pour me some strontium.
Erik: It definitely is the world's most endangered resource. Ah yes, the good old Love Canal.
SW: You're right about that. Environmental issues in general are a huge wedge issue for Democrats and liberals. Working-class people and environmentalists are both usually Democrats, and the "jobs vs. the environment" dilemma comes between them.
And there definitely is the perception, true or not, that Democrats have sold out working people for gays and minorities. It's a problem, no doubt about it.
jadedj: Or protection from companies that would rather poison us than spend a few extra dollars on safety.
MRM: Sad but true; the pocketbook trumps all other issues.
Kate: I think I first learned about this issue when you mentioned it in a comment here, a long time ago.
Randal: Now say it right -- that's "hydraulically fracture yourself."
TC: That's right, RepubliCorp will keep getting bigger and better.
And now they offer RepubliCare!
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