Fracking Protesters! Golden’s Office Picketed (Again)
Protesters, seeking to extend a state ban on a controversial method of drilling for natural gas, demonstrated in front of State Senator Marty Golden’s office on Monday.
The protest’s organizers are also trying to gain support for a national ban on the drilling, called fracking, due to the harm it could cause our water supply.
From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle:
“It’s very important that people get out and express their views,” said Janie Groff of Brooklyn Democrats for Change. Anti-natural gas drilling advocates are urging state senators to pass the Sweeney-Carlucci Bill S. 5592, which would extend the existing moratorium on natural gas drilling until June 1, 2012.
The main organizers of the protest, an environmental group called Food and Water Watch, headed by Eric Weltman, brought together a group of about 30 local protesters for the demonstration.
Senator Golden has expressed support for fracking, which he says will create jobs.
However, Groff told the Eagle, “The senator’s argument that drilling will create jobs upstate is a fallacy. The gas corporations have their own workers that they bring in for the drilling.”
The Senator also says that safeguards are in place to prevent flammable water from coming to a tap near you.
On the other hand, fracking, which uses dangerous chemicals, is exempt from Federal regulations concerning industrial waste.
David Spence, Associate Professor, Department of Business, Government & Society at the University of Texas at Austin writes on a school website,
“Under federal law, fracking enjoys several important regulatory exemptions that are not applicable to most other heavy industries. The first is the exemption of fracking wastes from the definition of hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”).”
Monday’s demonstration was the third time Senator Golden’s office had been picketed in only eight days. The other two protests concerned same-sex marriage and rent regulations.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle: ‘Save Our Drinking Water!’ Protesters Tell Sen. Golden