When the sun shines down on Washington, DC, in summer from
an even partly cloudy sky, you can feel the energy being wasted on sunburn when
it can be cheaply and cleanly diverted to saving the planet. Instead, our
president has opted to prioritize natural gas development, a.k.a. fracking,
despite tangible and widespread evidence of the lethal harm it reeks on human
lives and natural landscapes.
And so, as Mr.
Obama tours "shale country" (upstate New York and a stop in PA) today, August
22, and tomorrow, to sell his plan to ease college debt burdens on students
whose lives are being ruined by education instead of enriched and elevated,
though we cheer the effort, we wonder why he chose such fractured or soon-to-be
fragmented venues.
The answer is that
the cost of higher education has grown exponentially in the Empire State in the
last few years. The president even plans a side trip to neighboring
Pennsylvania--already fracked and oozing scars. The city of Pittsburgh has
forcefully announced its opposition to this method of extracting natural gas
from its terrain.
What a mixed bag.
Fodder for the progs combined with acid in the face of this land of ours. Our
students' futures are certainly important, but so is the planet they will
inhabit in the years to come. Educate them, Mr. President, so that they can
resort to the right energy sources and frack the whole idea of fracking.
If that's what
you want deep down inside, it's certainly a sinuous way to go, with the EPA
backing down on its opposition to fracking recently.
A small group of
activists led by Progressives for Democratic Action (PDA) and Moveon, both
represented by the organizer of the rally and march, Mike Hersh, protested
fracking today at Lafayette Park in Washington, DC, which borders the back of
the White House. Mr. Obama's chosen venues today provided a perfect backdrop.
Not only did we
chant against fracking and listen to the highly articulate and well-informed
words of Hersh and colleagues David Braun of Americans against Fracking, Drew
Hudson of Environmental Action, Jason Kowalksi of 350.org, and several others;
we materialized our demands with 650,000 supportive comments uploaded to CDs we
delivered to the Department of the Interior, which was the endpoint of the
fifteen-minute march from Lafayette Square. These demands were symbolized by "banking
boxes" carried by most of the marchers--hundreds of boxes would have been
required had we conveyed them in hard copy--we carried empty boxes and were told
to look as weary as we should have because the burdens being imposed on the
people and their planet would weigh down a squadron of jumbo jets at least.
Once we got to
the steps of the DOI and handed over the CDs to DOI representatives designated
to meet us, a few protesters diligently dismantled the boxes for easy and environmentally
efficient disposal. After the informal ceremony, actress Daryl Hannah, who led
the march, thanked us for our efforts even as representatives of the coalition
of protestors thanked her for interrupting her glitzy schedule to fly here.
Excuse my skepticism. Celebrities add glitz to causes, and the impact should
not be belittled. The harder they work, the more we all benefit.
From Hannah to
the voiceless who will suffer the most from fracking, get the word out. Continue
to beseech our President to add teeth to his commitment to the environment
rather than allowing the one percent to chew us to bits.
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