Obama's Support for Natural Gas Drilling 'A Painful Moment' for Communities Exposed to Fracking

[limpyhobbler]

...AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to President Obama’s recent comments about natural gas drilling. This is what he said just last week in his State of the Union address.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years. And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. And I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use, because America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk. The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy. And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock, reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.

AMY GOODMAN: That was President Obama in the State of the Union address. Josh Fox, director of Gasland?

JOSH FOX: That was actually quite, I think, a very painful moment for a lot of people who have been focusing on gas fracking for the last several years. I think the President’s statements right there are wrong. I mean, it’s very clear that we do not have a hundred years’ worth of natural gas, and certainly not if we want to start using it in cars and trucks. And it has been—it’s very, very unclear, in the science, whether or not this fracking technique can be done safely. And in my research, it shows itself to be inherently contaminating. And there is no proof to think that we could be doing this gas extraction safely.

On the other hand, what the President did say was that he was in support of the disclosure of the chemicals, which is to say, the reversal of the exemption to the Safe Drinking Water Act that the gas industry was granted in 2005. They were made exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act, which stated that—in the 2005 energy bill, allowing them to inject toxic chemicals and toxic material into the ground without having to report that. So what he’s saying is, you can’t get away with not reporting and not disclosing the chemicals that you’re pumping into the ground. However, when we look at the industry’s own reports, and it shows that 40 percent of their wells have integrity issues—that is to say, the well casing that protects the groundwater cracks in 40 percent of the cases over a short period of time, and in a larger percentage over a longer period of time—this is basically surrendering those areas to groundwater contamination, either in the short term or in the long term...

http://www.alternet.org/news/153991/gasland_director_josh_fox%3A_obama's_support_for_natural_gas_drilling_'a_painful_moment'_for_communities_exposed_to_fracking_

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[Bohunk68]

2. Was listening to local NPR

Specifically, WAMC out of Albany. They had a local anti-fracking person on and he was backpedaling and stating how he thought Obama had moved in a good direction. I did a WTF. I had heard the speech on tv and heard the waffling then, so I was surprised by the comments from this local person. He lives three doors down on my country road and we would be very affected by this method of extraction. I have also heard from someone who would know that the current mayor of Cobleskill, who also owns property near Howe Caverns, is in negotiations to have his property used as a dumping ground for those fluids. This would severely impact the karst limestone water tables, hence drinking water in the area. I was not pleased with the President's statements. What is H20's take on it?

[MisterP]

5. search for "veal pen"

[DURHAM D]

3. When I heard Obama's remarks in the SOTU I immediately thought -

just like the Deepwater Horizon/BP well problems he doesn't understand the basics. And, he needs to fire his advisors.

Before another well is fracked we need to know what chemicals are being used, and not just on public lands but on all land and in every state.

His comments were a 100% waffle. IOWs, either Obama is being played or he is just a liar. I always remind myself when people who have children make horrible decisions like this one (I am thinking about Bush and Cheney) he probably thinks that when push comes to shove his children can safely move to another country.

[limpyhobbler]

4. I had a similar reaction when I heard that part in the speech. I couldn't believe my ears.

People are going to great lengths to raise awareness about this issue. People are out organizing and protesting trying to protect our drinking water and it would be nice if we had an ally in the whitehouse. It would actually be better if the Prez. would just remain neutral, instead of cheerleading for the gas companies. .

I expect this from republicans but to be honest I didn't think president Obama was going to take this position.

[Vanje]

6. Damn

I am so disappointed with this administration's environmental record.
Its dismal.
Has there been a worse Democratic president for the environment?