What is fracking? Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing. It is a method of natural gas extraction. Fracking is accomplished by drilling down into the ground (the average well is up to 8,000 feet deep), and pumping in millions of gallons of water, mixed with hundreds of toxic chemicals and sand. This is done under extremely high pressure. The pressure causes the shale to fracture and fissures to open, enabling natural gas to flow freely into the well.
I first learned about fracking through the documentary Gasland. That is the movie where you get to see people light their tap water on fire, because it is so full of chemicals. Scary.
My friend Lee and some other bloggers have joined together to form a grassroots environment cause blog, Bloggers Inspiring Change, and speak out about fracking. Today they released a PSA that I want to share with you.
Yes, that is Raphael Sbarge you see down there in the video (or Jiminy Cricket from Once Upon A Time as he is known in my family) how can you not click play on that?
Participants Include Ed Begley Jr, Raphael Sbarge, Lee Allport, Marianna Nichols, Nichol Haskins, Jackie Pletsch, and The Mom Bloggers of ErieRising.com
(Los Angeles, CA August 21, 2012)- Bringing together the voices of actors and celebrities such as Ed Begley Jr. and Raphael Sbarge with bloggers and online influencers, BloggersInspiringChange.org and ErieRising.com have created a PSA to help educate the public on exactly what fracking is and how it can harm their communities.
“Fracking is a method of natural gas extraction that has the potential to poison our families. However, few people even know it’s happening, and that means there is something wrong with this situation,” said Lee Allport, Creator of BloggersInspiringChange.org.
“I’m so happy to be a part of the initiative,” said Raphael Sbarge, an actor and founder of the environmental awareness organization Green Wish. “Fracking is of great concern to those of us in the environmental movement, so it’s so wonderful to take part in a grassroots effort led by many of those most directly affected by the practice. These are the voices that need to be heard.”
Beyond this PSA, BloggersInspiringChange.org and the various participants ask that viewers at home get involved in fighting fracking in their communities by writing to your elected officials or supporting organizations such as http://www.ecowatch.org.
The PSA can be viewed online here. For additional information on Bloggers Inspiring Change, please visit http://www.bloggersinspiringchange.org and to learn about how fracking has affected people by visiting http://www.erierising.com.
*Legal Stuff: I am not being compensated to share this PSA with you. I'm doing it because I love Lee, I love my readers, and most of all, because I love clean and safe drinking water.
Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteReally interesting! Don't complain about radon and fuel exhaust.. and ignore this. If hindsight is 20/20 and "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", then this something we can stop before it gets whitewashed in the govt. media! Nice post.
ReplyDeleteThe other day, I stumbled upon Mitt Romney discussing his energy initiatives. Fracking is on his must-do list. Just in case anyone was undecided who to vote for this November.
ReplyDeleteFracking is on Obama's list, too. He spoke positively about it at the last State of the Union address.
DeleteUnfortunately it is being pushed by both sides. That is why it is so important to educate people about what it is, and how dangerous it can be.
So to show what a complete closet nerd I truly am, on BattleStar Galactica (the new one) they use Fracking as a cable friendly alternative to the f bomb, so now anytime I see this version used that's the first thing I think of, lol!!!
ReplyDeleteBut yes--a very important issue!!