White House Could Cast Decisive Vote to Permit 20,000 Fracking Wells in Delaware River Basin

[ensho]

http://www.truth-out.org/white-house-could-cast-decisive-vote-permit-20000-fracking-wells-delaware-river-basin/1321035599


This week the Delaware River Basin Commission released draft regulations to allow for the natural gas drilling technique hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, in the river’s watershed, which provides water to 15.6 million people in New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey. The proposed plan would allow for some 20,000 gas wells to be developed in the watershed. A vote on the regulations is set for Nov. 21 and could prompt a battle between activists and the White House, which holds a seat on the commission and may cast the deciding vote. We speak with Josh Fox, whose documentary about fracking, "Gasland," was nominated for an Academy Award, and play an excerpt of his new video about the possible impacts natural gas fracking could have in the Delaware River Basin.

-snip-

JOSH FOX: Well, actually, the Keystone issue is related to fracking. They use an enormous amount of natural gas to boil down the tar sands, along with huge quantities of water. So they’re taking fracked gas from southern Alberta, they’re taking fracked gas from all across Canada, to create tar sands oil, and then they’re pipelining it to several refineries already in the United States right now, where they have a waste product, which is natural gas, which is typically just flared off and not even counted. So this is an enormously wasteful process. But it’s in the context of extreme energy. When you’re talking about tar sands development, fracking, mountaintop removal, deepwater drilling, all these things that are disastrous, that are very, very dangerous, it’s part of a suite of this so-called new energy technology.

-snip-

JOSH FOX: Uh-huh, OK. Well, and I know there’s a conversation going on between Schneiderman and Beau Biden on the Delaware River Basin. However, it’s crucial that the Obama administration, represented by the Army Corps, and the state of Delaware reject this proposal, reject these draft regulations. It’s really coming down to those two votes. It’s a five-member commission. Three out of five wins. New York has already stated that they’re going to vote against the plan. Very surprising that they would come out and tell people. Indications are that New Jersey, Chris Christie, and Tom Corbett, the governor of Pennsylvania, will vote for it. So these two votes, with the Obama administration—

-snip-
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20,000!! insane - but then, what a money maker for the Barons

[Divernan]

1. You can bet your last dollar that PA. Gov. Tom "Frackho" Corbett will vote for the wells.

[Ezlivin]

2. Hmmm, profit or environment? Which will win?

Gosh, I just don't know....

[Divernan]

4. Not just the environment at stake - lots of health issues as well.

Then there's the damage to the public infrastructure, agriculture, hunting and fishing, plummeting property values of adjacent, non-fracking neighbors, and on and on.

[ensho]

5. and earthquakes

nt

[Faux pas]

3. Sheesh.