Butane Water, What the Frack?
The state legislature has passed S2576, a bill that will make NJ the first state in the country to ban fracking, helping to protect NJ’s drinking water supplies from this risky practice. It is now Governor Christie’s job to sign the bill into law.
Food & Water Watch.org suggests: CALL NOW AND EVERY MONDAY!
Call Governor Christie Toll Free 877-559-7809:
Tell Him:
My name is ___________________ and I live in __________________.
- I support a ban on fracking in NJ;
- This type of drilling is putting drinking water at risk of serious contamination;
- Please sign S2576 the bill to ban fracking in New Jersey
- Use your position on the Delaware River Basin Commission to advocate a ban on fracking in the Delaware River Watershed
You can also text “FRACK” to 69866 to sign the petition to ban fracking.
What’s fracking?
Basically a process of drilling for natural gas that destroys the water table and contaminates drinking water. This should be illegal, but thanks to the Halliburton Loophole signed by Bush/ Cheney in 2005, gas companies are exempt from disclosing the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing.
Read the FAQs at the Gasland website.
Watch the Gasland movie.
Michael Murphy
July 24, 2011
Sach–I’m sorry to disagree with you on this, but this is a joke. The Developmental Marcellus is barely a few hundred square miles in the very north west corner of the state, so banning the practice is virtually moot. Secondly, fracking of over 1,500 wells in PA has resulted only in 18 families drinking water polluted–and in 13 of those cases it was profit skimming and corner cutting by a local contractor that caused the problem. I don’t disagree that even 18 families should not be sacrificed and we have to harshly punish those who err. But how many more American lives are you willing to sacrifice on Arab sands to maintain our sick dependency on foreign oil? Fracking is the solution for freeing this nation from that toxic dependency by converting out trucking fleets, trucks and cars from gas to domestic natural gas. We don’t have a choice–we must be fracking.
sustainablesachi
July 24, 2011
You should watch Gasland. And fossil fuels aren’t the only source of energy. The sooner we get off it, the sooner there will be a viable market for clean energy alternatives. Blowing up water tables isn’t the answer.
Michael Murphy
July 25, 2011
Sach–Gasland is a propaganda film–do some fact checking. He’s as reliable as Michael Moore. I am all for solar and wind, and yes we have to preserve our water tables, but we have to be realistic. You will never run a steel plant on solar. Wind will never drive 18 wheelers. For $300 and two hours of labor costs we can convert any heavy equipment that runs on diesel today to liquified natural gas. In 20 years we can convert our entire trucking fleet and fuel them not with Arab oil but with clean burning natural gas we produce at home–extending the life of the equipment and not putting out the p[ollutants that diesel does.
We cannot keep sacrificing American lives on Arab sands and you simply can’t make galvanized pipe with solar energy–do you have any idea what it takes to make something as simple and necessary as galvanized pipe? You have to keep 5 tons of zinc liquid at all times–hydrocarbons are the only way to do that. If we don;t have alternatives to drive heavy industry–this cushy life we all love so much goes away. And literally we will all be foraging to survive.
sustainablesachi
July 25, 2011
Mike, you’ve made some really key points. Whether we frack for gas or not, we’ve passed peak oil in every country. Globally, fossil fuels are harder and harder to find because we are quickly running out. So I don’t see the point in going into the dark ages with unsafe drinking water, but I guess we are used to hanging ourselves. I totally agree with you that heavy industry is made possible by a petroleum economy. And I agree with you that without it, our cushy lifestyle will come to a halt. Why do you think I’ve taken up foraging and learning to make my own rope and thread? There is a very real and imminent possibility that living without fossil fuel will become our reality within a single generation because we have not taken the proper steps to set up a sustainable economy. I am by no means a survivalist, but I am intent on learning how to live without such a crippling dependency on petroleum-based consumer goods. I’m beginning to see “the meek shall inherit the earth” in a whole new light.
sustainablesachi
July 25, 2011
Also, if we stopped fighting over oil, believe me, that won’t stop us from warring. We’ll be fighting over something else soon enough, probably water rights.
Michael Murphy
July 25, 2011
I guess the optimist in me hopes that the exploration of our native shales will buy us another 100 years so that we can figure out cold fusion or something equally sustainable. I hate the idea that this may be the peak of human civilzation–but the pessimist in me is screaming that if we don;t figure it out soon–we may all wake up one day to find that it was. I’m with you, Sach.
sustainable sachi
July 26, 2011
I think we’ll be coming up on some difficult challenges, because it is always hard to break old systems and habits. The entire economic and political system needs a complete overhaul. Perhaps this is only possible by a period of famine and blackouts. But I believe the survivors of the human race will find innovative ways to live well and create an enlightened civilization in the new era. Some Indian philosophers believe we are embarking on the age of freedom.