The Fracking Industry's Contempt for the Public Is Finally Coming to Light | Alternet

 "I hope he wins, and sets a legal precedent.”

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Phrases like, “natural gas,” “cleaner than coal,” “energy independence,” and “radical environmentalists” were deployed to create a popular mandate for shale gas development, and to discount fracking critics. While it seems likely that gas-industry spin doctors honed these deft marketing terms prior to the nationwide explosion in fracking, neither reporters nor the public have been privy to the behind-the-scenes machinations, until now.

This past week a leak, a report and a lawsuit have given a rare glimpse of what the gas industry really thinks about the public (easily manipulated), environmentalists (extremely effective) and fracking (not in my backyard).

These developments also shine a harsh light on the untenable role of many state environmental departments. While some might naïvely assume that in government agencies, the public good still stands foremost, that assumption fails to probe: “How can a department charged with both environmental protection and business development effectively protect public health and the environment?”

It seems it can’t,,,

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When water contamination from drilling wiped out the water supply for a significant part of the town of Dimock, PADEP required the offending gas company, Cabot Oil & Gas, to build a water pipeline to the town— and then dropped the idea, leaving dozens of families without water permanently. (For a time, the company delivered water buffaloes to homes, but stopped in 2011.) One homeowner sought to contact the state government for help after his water supply was cut off. Due to the lack of reporting mechanisms, there was no one to call but the PADEP head—and the governor, Tom Corbett. He called daily, until state police ordered him to desist. Ultimately, his family left their home and moved out of state.

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When 50,000 citizens call attention to vast omissions in oversight, monitoring and enforcement, this is called citizen engagement in democracy. But Pennsyvlania has steadfastly declined to put its money into environmental protection, instead funding other priorities. For example, in 2010, the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, a Philadelphia firm, acting as a consultant to the Pennsylvania’s Homeland Security Department enacted a plan to collect the names of citizens who attended public meetings or who went to see the film, Gasland, characterizing attendees as “environmental extremists" who pose an "increasing threat to... the energy sector.” This attempt to squelch First Amendment rights by crushing citizen participation in government backfired and then-governor Ed Rendell canceled the contract.

The Fracking Industry's Contempt for the Public Is Finally Coming to Light | Alternet