Fracking found harmful, but what next?
The evidence is in and overwhelming. Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s grand jury found fracking in Pennsylvania to indisputably harm the health and well-being of the people.
For years, we fracking opponents have presented evidence from respected studies showing how unconventional gas drilling (fracking) harmed the public with cancer-causing chemicals, air pollutants and radioactive contamination. Even the Pennsylvania Supreme Court once issued a similar indictment when it predicted fracking would have a detrimental effect on “the people, their children, and future generations.”
But the corrupt politics of Pennsylvania, the salivating greed of politicians and private landowners, and the unconscionable judicial decisions of judges have made Pennsylvania a mecca for poisoning our environment with residents used as guinea pigs by a gas industry and a complicit Department of Environmental Protection.
For certain, the top management of the DEP should resign or be fired since the grand jury clearly shows how the polluting industry and corrupt DEP have been working hand-in-glove to shaft the people. Moreover, an investigation should begin into the justice system’s ties to the gas industry, for many judges have no idea of what their sworn duty is in protecting the environment or upholding the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Whether the grand jury’s recommendations will ever be implemented will depend on whether the people demand through the elective process a change in those elected to the legislative, executive and judicial branches of our government. The people in the end will decide. They now have the facts, but do they have the will? RON SLABE
Oakmont of the candidates. There is nothing remotely illegal about that, but it would suggest that every president attempts to find the most-qualified candidate who furthers his agenda, not the most-qualified candidate. Perhaps this would matter less if justices were not lifetime appointments, or if the courts return to interpreting laws based on the Constitution instead of creating policy.
It appears that we need to be reminded on a regular basis that America is a better place when all have a true opportunity to participate in her greatness, not just the standard roster of white guys from the “right” colleges.
JACK BOVA Pitcairn