April, 19 2011, 02:28pm EDT
Pickens' Gas Fracking Offensive Debunked
T. Boone Pickens and Ted Turner speak at the National Press Club this afternoon. At 10 a.m. ET, a group of environmentalists and scientists are holding a conference call to expose what's behind Pickens' plans. For more information, contact: Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch
WASHINGTON
T. Boone Pickens and Ted Turner speak at the National Press Club this afternoon. At 10 a.m. ET, a group of environmentalists and scientists are holding a conference call to expose what's behind Pickens' plans. For more information, contact: Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Watch reports: "Congress's upcoming consideration of the NAT GAS Act (H.R. 1380) ... would funnel $5 billion in subsidies to the natural gas industry, while making the U.S. dependent on shale gas drilling for a generation to come. ... The process of injecting shale rock with water to extract gas for energy, fracking has been shown to contaminate water supplies. To date, there have been more than 1,000 documented cases of water contamination near drilling sites around the country."
A.R. INGRAFFEA
Ingraffea will participate in the conference call and is one of the Cornell University researchers who co-authored the recently-published study "Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations." He said today: "We have a preliminary conclusion that it is possible that the life cycle of natural gas produces more greenhouse gases than the life cycle of other fossil fuels. ... 'Natural gas' basically means methane." See: "Study: Fracking May Be More Harmful Than Coal Use." PDF of study
JOSH FOX
Fox made the film "Gaslands," which has won numerous awards. He and will also be on the 10 a.m. conference call. He said today: "T. Boone Pickens is an just an oil baron turned gas baron trying to game the system into subsidizing his business interests. The Pickens plan does nothing to reduce emissions and would push unregulated toxic gas drilling into overdrive, further contaminating huge areas of the United States. His plan won't work, not just because it is costly and toxic, but because there are literally millions of Americans living in the drill zones in 34 states who are not willing to have their health, water and air put at risk by drilling. I have seen the strength of the movement against gas drilling all across the United States, it is resilient, smart, democratic, non-violent and adamant in opposing this massive drilling plan.
"Pickens promotes his plan under the guise of clean energy and independence from foreign oil. But his plan is dirty as any fossil fuel and just means more dependence on T. Boone Pickens and his oil and gas buddies. Renewable energy and biofuels are a much better way to go. There are numerous plans that exist today that don't include risking the permanent contamination of the water supply."
For a map of all the areas that T. Boone Pickens would like to drill go to the homepage of gaslandthemovie.com
MAURA STEPHENS
Stephens is a co-founder of the Coalition to Protect New York. She just wrote the piece "Meet the Gas Geezers," which traces the interests of both Pickens and Turner -- whose talk together today is billed as a "debate" -- regarding gas and water.
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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