U.S. – The Country Where The Ground Beneath Your Feet Is Sold

In the past few day, I`ve seen a lot of articles about the Texas earthquakes on the Internet. And while there are still doubts about their cause, all fingers point in the same direction: fracking. There have been numerous talks ever since 2008, when fracking companies started drilling in the U.S., about the possibility of chained earthquakes shaking fracking sites and affecting entire communities… but back then, both fracking companies and the government assured us, Americans, that drilling technologies are perfectly safe for the environment.

 Today, here`s what we get instead:

And we`re not talking about tiny earthquakes that you can barely feel… just take a look at what a resident of Eagle Mountain Lakesays:

“You can actually see my house rocking from side to side,” Williams says. She was at home when the largest of the quakes (magnitude 3.6) struck on the evening of November 19th. “I tried to get up and run downstairs,” she says. “And for a moment, I couldn’t run, because the house was shaking so bad!”

But even in these circumstances, where people feel threatened in their own home, regulators keep quiet and stall. For how long, God knows. I wonder what needs to happen before they step in and take action against drilling companies… or, better yet… if they`ll ever step in and take action or they`ll blame these destructive effects on climate change, as they always do.

Right now, no one knows anything for sure regarding the best ways to generate energy that will meet our demands and will be viable options in both economic and environmental terms. Where will our energy come from? What is all this we’re hearing about hydraulic fracturing and why aren’t we banning this technology like France? Why is State Oil and Gas Regulator keeping its mouth shut about fracking while earthquakes rumble through Texas?

There`s a ton of other questions I think of, but what`s the point, when there`s one single answer for them all: The government doesn`t care, anyway. In the past five years, Obama’s administration has miserably failed to manage this crucial issue (just like Obamacare, the NSA data center or Syria). Because our government keeps on feeding the few key people of the drilling and energy companies while endangering an entire nation.

I`ve talked about fracking and its dangers before, but I feel there`s nothing like a personal story to make you really open your eyes to what`s going on. Check outthe story of Franklin Forks families from a small rural town in northeast Pennsylvania, forced to live without clean water and no longer able to live in their homes as of Monday December 16^th. Yes, because of drilling nearby their properties.

And it`s not the first family complaining about their water turning black or cloudy since gas drilling entered their lands in 2008 (a DEP test from early 2012 found barium at twice the allowed limit and methane concentrates were extremely high, as well). But although the results of these tests are as incriminating as they can be, drilling companies are denying responsibility and the government is ignoring everything. In fact, the EPA has been complaining lately that their test results are buried if they come out negative. The government forces them to manipulate test results or hide them altogether.

But the truth about fracking technologies can`t be buried anymore. And that`s because the effects are getting more visible than ever. Just take a look at how many “fraccidents” have happened in the US so far:

Up to 600 chemicals are used in the fracking fluid, such as radium, uranium, methanol and other toxins… It`s not hard to imagine what happens when these chemicals end up in our drinking water. There have been documented cases of sensory, respiratory and neurological damage due to ingested contaminated water (more than 1,000 according to www.dagersoffracking.com) and US citizens just like you and me who try to file a suit claiming these symptoms are quickly forced to drop them. Drillers don’t even think to settle, these corporations have so much money they can do whatever they want, especially in a country where the government is sold for eternity and they’ve got a free pass for everything.

And that`s exactly why Obama & co. won`t even consider other variants, such as turning coal into synthetic natural gas, a new method that could replace fracking. Ukraine has recently signed a deal with China, allowing 4 billion cubic meters of gas to be annually replaced with the synthetic coal product. Not the best idea as the conversion process could accelerate climate change, but still way better and cheaper than hydraulic fracturing. Coal and many more other fuel sources besides it are also cleaner, safer and don’t cause earthquakes, but you won’t hear this from our government. Obama’s administration has secret agreements with energy companies and other governments to not use replacements for oil or gas obtained from fracking, while holding in their hands all the different good alternatives.

We need to say NO MORE! To step in, to stop US’s government rush to shut down everything and make way for power companies to do whatever they want. We can no longer leave them sweep the dangers and their dirty businesses under the rug. These companies are planning to push even more and expand this dirty drilling. I’m afraid we are in the midst of an unprecedented gas drilling rush and things have gone too far… A massive public support to stop this can help, so be informed and inform your loved ones and your friends. Everyone needs to know what the government is trying so hard to suppress.

 By Alec Deacon