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Philly's Anti-Phracking Movement

Liz Rosenbaum, Neighbor

Posted Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 5:31 pm ET|Updated Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 10:30 pm ET

Philly's Anti-Phracking Movement

I started this blog a year ago, freaked over Fracking and the hydrological catastrophe coming to Pennsylvania. I was determined to reach one thousand people with the message that industrial shale gas drilling will forever destroy beautiful, economically struggling regions of rural PA. I wanted them to know that the unchecked, under-regulated shale gas industry is already polluting the water we drink and the air we breathe.

Find out what's happening in Bryn Mawr-Gladwynewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mostly, I wanted people to Take Action to protect the imperiled Delaware and Schuylkill River watersheds.

Many posts later, there are many more blogs and websites designed to promote the truth about uncoventional gas drilling, and even to expose the failures and, some might say, failure of the Corbett administration. (See long list below.) There have been moments when we've all focused on the same news, and I’ve questioned KeepTap’s relevancy. Once or twice, I feared the echo-chamber effect. I’ve since come to realize that sometimes, when a cause is this important, we need a chorus.

Find out what's happening in Bryn Mawr-Gladwynewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Today, it’s obvious that “Unconventional Gas Drilling” takes a too great a toll on our Environment and Public Health. Yet, bad lawmakers continue to dismiss good science, and people's lives are being ruined. Judging from my stats, visitors find blogs like this in their search for objective information about our water supply. Clean water is one of those few, purely non-partisan issues, something on which we can all agree. I surpassed my original goal months ago, and it seems the chorus is only growing louder, calling attention to the moral outrages of our state leadership.

In and around Philadelphia, interest in Delaware River watershed protection is finally coming to the fore. Once thought of as something happening 'over there' in the Western counties, Fracking has arrived in the social and political lexicon. It's become cause celebre, as Moms in minivans want their own “No Frack” magnets, and kids fill up the church halls with music and the anti-fracking message. Everyday in the Delaware Valley, people are recognizing the increasing threat hydraulic fracturing poses to the water supply of 15.6 million, and they want to know what they can do to Protect Our Waters.

Get the Fracts: Anti-Fracking Bloggers on Roll

I laugh a little when I hear Gas Industry folks complain about how well-funded the anti-fracking movement is. To which groups are they referring? I’m a fractivist. I volunteer, and I’m in very good company. Yes, there is a growing list of Big Greens who want to ban or limit Unconventional Gas Drilling, and they have relatively "major" funding. In true grassroots fashion, though, there are far more unsung heroes comprising the ever-expanding, unpaid anti-fracking chorus. Ads cost money but the truth about Fracking is free.

These cats have computers, and they aren’t afraid to use them. Many are based in Eastern PA. Each, in their own way, is establishing a public record of extreme gas extraction and its assault on our water, air and land. I don't imagine I've aggregated them all, but the sites listed below are packed with Fracking facts, aimed squarely at dispelling Shale Gas fictions.

The Anti-Fracking Blogroll

Action PA: www.actionpa.org

Amy Mall’s Blog: switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/amall

Allegheny Defense Project: alleghenydefenseproject.wordpress.com

Barnett Shale Hell (Texas): barnettshalehell.wordpress.com

Berks Gas Truth: hwww.gastruth.org

Bluedaze Drilling Reform: texassharon.com

Bob’s Blog: donnan.com/fracking-water.htm

Calvin Tillman, Dish TX: baddish.blogspot.com

Catskill Mountainkeeper: catskillmountainkeeper.org/our-programs/fracking/marcellus-shale

Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy: catskillcitizens.org

Center for Healthy Environments and Communities: chec.pitt.edu/MSGEcommunity.html