Just a little more bad news

I heard on the Daily Buzz the other night that fracking is coming to Youngstown. Everyone is thrilled about this because it means there will be jobs! No one is talking about the actual process of fracking. They are just thrilled we have natural gas reserves here.

If you don't know what fracking is, it's the practice of fracturing the shale to get to the natural gas. I can't say I understand it yet, but I know it's not pretty. Here's an excerpt from an article on the subject from www.inthesetimes.com:

Fracking or "tapping the shale raises plenty of environmental and human impact concerns of its own, including the potentially devastating effects of hydraulic fracturing, or “hydro-fracking." Toxic chemicals derived from diesel and including benzene, toluene and xylene are injected into methane gas or coal beds to extract gas during fracking. Fracking is known to contaminate the water supply—a precious resource for low-income well users in Appalachia—and result in other serious environmental effects.

Citizens' groups have called for a moratorium on the practice in New York state, and a monitoring plan for liquid waste—sometimes radioactive—created by the operations. In April, the EPA said it would take a closer look at fracking."

And if that's not bad news enough, I will add this tidbit:

The American Petroleum Institute is spending a ton of money on a new ad campaign to prevent Congress from passing new taxes or setting any new restrictions on their drilling. What will happen to us if we don't do exactly what the oil industry wants us to do??

API threatens. . . 'As the nation struggles to recover from recession, further taxes on an industry that supports 9.2 million jobs and 7.5 percent of our GDP could have a devastating effect on our jobs, economic recovery and our energy security, according to the leading oil and natural gas trade association.'"

Oh, the threat by these friendly, caring corporations! Just think how it would hurt them to pay their share of taxes!