By Benjamin Delshad
Over the course of United States history, I’ve noticed a pattern of the government putting the economy in front of the environment. Our economy is the most important thing to our government, and this issue of skewed priorities has lead to social and environmental issues to be tossed to the wayside. Famous ecologist and author of Silent Spring Rachel Carson write about the contamination of crops and people through the high volume and usage of pesticides in the 1960’s. Rachel Carson dealt with red tape put up by the government and had to sift her way through the bureaucratic nonsense to get the facts, that pesticides were having terrible effects on people. In current day we are dealing with Hydraulic Fracturing or “Fracking.” Once again like the usage of pesticides fracking is having extreme effects on the health of its surrounding population, and again it is being covered up continuing the perpetuating cycle of putting the money before everything.
Fracking is the process of extracting natural gasses out of the ground, which sounds like something that can have benefits but the effects it have far out way the benefits. Sandra Steingraber describes the process of fracking in the article The Fracking of Rachel Carson, she explains that it uses drills and millions of gallons of water to create a mile long tunnel that causes fractures in the earth which release natural gasses that are concentrated and transported via pipelines.
We can see through the documentary Gasland that Fracking is having profound effects on the people who live in the surrounding towns of the Fracking sights. The effects are believed to be coming from the natural gas that is entering the water source, which these people are drinking. The companies doing the fracking are claiming that they are not the reason that the water is contaminated.
In 1972 president Richard Nixon passed the Clean Water Act, a way of starting an environmentally continues nation which basically states that anything that will disrupt the water in our nation in a negative way is unlawful. But in 2005 when president George W Bush signed the Energy bill their where clauses that EXEMPTED Fracking from numerous environmental acts the Clean Water Act being one along with the Clean Air Acts. Why would he do that you may ask? Well Dick Cheney President Gorge Bush’s vice president was the Chairman and CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. Halliburton is one of the worlds largest oil field services companies and one of the largest companies Fracking in the United States. Recently Halliburton bought out Baker Hughes, a competing Fracking company and in an article by the NASDAQ they claim that by doing so Halliburton is aiming to dominate the Fracking industry in the United States.
In the documentary Gasland Josh Fox takes us around the country to see what fracking has been doing to the people who live near these fracking sights. He interviews the families who have made complaints as well as their neighbors, some of which are not willing to speak to him, possibly because they took payouts from Fracking companies to stay quiet. What he finds is incredible. Families that have water sources that are so contaminated with natural gases that they can literally light the water coming out of there faucets on FIRE! Think about that….
In the process of fracking there is usage of “Fracking Fluids” which consists of almost 600 chemicals that to say the least should not be in your water. Two issues in the documentary are ETHYLBENZENE, which is a known carcinogen. It is a flammable gas that is known to have links to respiratory illness, neurological effects, cancer, and a long list of other effects on the human body. Another known chemical GLYCOL ETHERS which is also a chemical used in Fracking fluid, which is known to have links to testicular toxicity, malfunction of the embryo, bone marrow depression, and hemolysis.
The people affected by the water contamination have been victim to serious health issues from the drinking of the water. In Gasland the families that Josh Fox interviews have had illness, headaches, and many other medical issues. Josh Fox skips all the red tape and goes directly to the people who are being affected. This gives Josh the first hand experience and view of those directly effected by the Fracking. They discuss that they have faced many health issues since the Fracking near them started and that the Fracking companies have given them the cold shoulder when they brought concern to them about the water issues they are having in their homes. The water is coming out brown and with a smell of turpentine but when they get the water tested they are told its fine, go ahead drink it. This raises the question; do the Fracking companies have part in testing the water?
Weston Wilson (EPA whistle blower) says that the EPA buckled under industry pressure and stopped tests on fracking. We are turning our back to a serious problem or in his words “asleep at the wheel.” The people making these claims about their water contamination should not be the ones having to prove themselves. The Fracking companies should be the ones to prove that they aren’t contaminating the water, air, and soil. Why are they not doing so? Because they cant prove it. It should be up to the people being affected to prove that it’s destroying the environment and hurting people.
Sandra Steingraber is an environmentalist and author living in New York whose main focus is on Fracking in New York. She has been victim to the water contamination from a near by Fracking well and has been inflicted with bladder cancer. To me she is like a modern day Rachel Carson fighting against a corrupt business that is destroying the environment and its inhabitants. She has even gone as far as standing in front of the Fracking companies trucks in human chains to stop them from being able to work. She was arrested for these acts.
Dear Governor Cuomo is a documentary that shows how truly against Fracking the state of New York is by showing activists and celebrities who support the cause. The message is clear “Ban Fracking Now!”. Governor Cuomo was about to make the decision to allow Fracking or to ban it, the speakers in this documentary shows the support that is behind banning Fracking. Famous people like Mark Rufalo, Natalie Murchant, and others state their stance and it shows rallies all over New York.
I think their needs to be more people like Steingraber and Rachel Carson and if we keep turning a blind eye to issues like this for a quick buck we, as a society will fail. If we continue to sit idly by while our own government puts toxic waste into our water and other resources before we know it we will be doomed. Water is an essential part of life, and to take away clean water you are basically giving the people you are affecting a death sentence, these are American citizens whose rights are being exploited and taken advantage of. No matter what way you look at it what is being done to them is wrong and needs to be made right.
Overall, nice job incorporating all the pieces we focused on in class and finding their relation to one another! The strongest part of your blog post would have to be the substantial amount of evidence you’ve used to support the points you made throughout. If I were to hypothetically know nothing about what fracking is, who Josh Fox and Sandra Steingraber are in relation to the topic, and how it all affects me, after reading this article I could successfully answer all those questions. Not only did you provide definitions but also a brief history behind fracking and even some scientific terms. In terms of an analysis of the actual writing of Steingraber and Carson themselves you could’ve gone into more depth with how you interpreted their writing styles, what was successful and what wasn’t. You mentioned that Steingraber represents a 21st century Carson to you, a lot of their success in activism was because of their writing and the techniques they both used. Going into detail about this, drawing some similarities between the two authors could strengthen your blog post tons. That last paragraph where you included some of your personal thought on the topic of fracking and what it means for our environment is important. It adds personality to the post, which is similar to the technique Steingraber used to keep her reader’s attention.
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