SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Illinois' Flawed Fracking Law Is Everyone's Problem, Ecologist Says
The backroom negotiations behind the midwestern state’s new fracking regulations may be a taste of what’s to come in other places.
Jun 05, 2013
What happens in Illinois, doesn't stay in Illinois. That was the message last week of acclaimed scientist and author Sandra Steingraber, who joined the growing local uprising's last ditch effort to pass a moratorium on the controversial hydraulic gas drilling operations until the state could conduct a comprehensive scientific and health assessment.
The Illinois House and Senate passed a regulatory bill last Friday, which had been brokered in a backroom deal by Illinois Democrats, gas industry and labor representatives, and a small cadre of environmental groups--and to the consternation of Steingraber and grassroot activists, without any independent scientists, health experts, or impacted downstate residents at the negotiating table.
Despite these concerns, the Chicago Tribune's lede was "Let the fracking begin." The Washington Post, similarly, ran with the prevailing narrative about the bill: "Illinois lawmakers approve nation's toughest fracking regulations."
Not so, says Steingraber, an Illinois native, who has played a key role in the anti-fracking movement in New York and across the country. Testifying at a last minute House committee hearing with Gasland director Josh Fox, leading protests at the Illinois state capitol and confronting bill negotiators from the offices of Gov. Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and environmental lobbyists, Steingraber didn't pull any punches. "We consider the fracking regulatory bill to be a subversion of both science and democracy," she said. "No public hearings or public comment periods ever took place. And yet it is the public that is being compelled to live with the risks sanctioned by this bill. It is an unjust law."
Filmmaker Ben Evans and I sat down with Steingraber on the eve of the vote and asked her to speak on a number of topics, including why Illinois' historic fracking regulations should matter to the rest of the nation, and why the state is becoming another ground zero for the national climate movement.
(Part 1 of the video is above, while parts 2 through 5 are posted below.)
Jeff Biggers and Ben Evans created this article and shot these videos for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas and practical actions.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This article was written for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas and practical actions. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Jeff Biggers
Jeff Biggers is the author of In Sardinia: An Unexpected Journey in Italy, and other works of history.
Ben Evans
Ben Evans is a documentary filmmaker, actor, and owner of BEgreenCreative. His award-winning eco-docu-comedy, "YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip," is now available from First Run Features and at the film's website.
What happens in Illinois, doesn't stay in Illinois. That was the message last week of acclaimed scientist and author Sandra Steingraber, who joined the growing local uprising's last ditch effort to pass a moratorium on the controversial hydraulic gas drilling operations until the state could conduct a comprehensive scientific and health assessment.
The Illinois House and Senate passed a regulatory bill last Friday, which had been brokered in a backroom deal by Illinois Democrats, gas industry and labor representatives, and a small cadre of environmental groups--and to the consternation of Steingraber and grassroot activists, without any independent scientists, health experts, or impacted downstate residents at the negotiating table.
Despite these concerns, the Chicago Tribune's lede was "Let the fracking begin." The Washington Post, similarly, ran with the prevailing narrative about the bill: "Illinois lawmakers approve nation's toughest fracking regulations."
Not so, says Steingraber, an Illinois native, who has played a key role in the anti-fracking movement in New York and across the country. Testifying at a last minute House committee hearing with Gasland director Josh Fox, leading protests at the Illinois state capitol and confronting bill negotiators from the offices of Gov. Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and environmental lobbyists, Steingraber didn't pull any punches. "We consider the fracking regulatory bill to be a subversion of both science and democracy," she said. "No public hearings or public comment periods ever took place. And yet it is the public that is being compelled to live with the risks sanctioned by this bill. It is an unjust law."
Filmmaker Ben Evans and I sat down with Steingraber on the eve of the vote and asked her to speak on a number of topics, including why Illinois' historic fracking regulations should matter to the rest of the nation, and why the state is becoming another ground zero for the national climate movement.
(Part 1 of the video is above, while parts 2 through 5 are posted below.)
Jeff Biggers and Ben Evans created this article and shot these videos for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas and practical actions.
Jeff Biggers
Jeff Biggers is the author of In Sardinia: An Unexpected Journey in Italy, and other works of history.
Ben Evans
Ben Evans is a documentary filmmaker, actor, and owner of BEgreenCreative. His award-winning eco-docu-comedy, "YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip," is now available from First Run Features and at the film's website.
What happens in Illinois, doesn't stay in Illinois. That was the message last week of acclaimed scientist and author Sandra Steingraber, who joined the growing local uprising's last ditch effort to pass a moratorium on the controversial hydraulic gas drilling operations until the state could conduct a comprehensive scientific and health assessment.
The Illinois House and Senate passed a regulatory bill last Friday, which had been brokered in a backroom deal by Illinois Democrats, gas industry and labor representatives, and a small cadre of environmental groups--and to the consternation of Steingraber and grassroot activists, without any independent scientists, health experts, or impacted downstate residents at the negotiating table.
Despite these concerns, the Chicago Tribune's lede was "Let the fracking begin." The Washington Post, similarly, ran with the prevailing narrative about the bill: "Illinois lawmakers approve nation's toughest fracking regulations."
Not so, says Steingraber, an Illinois native, who has played a key role in the anti-fracking movement in New York and across the country. Testifying at a last minute House committee hearing with Gasland director Josh Fox, leading protests at the Illinois state capitol and confronting bill negotiators from the offices of Gov. Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and environmental lobbyists, Steingraber didn't pull any punches. "We consider the fracking regulatory bill to be a subversion of both science and democracy," she said. "No public hearings or public comment periods ever took place. And yet it is the public that is being compelled to live with the risks sanctioned by this bill. It is an unjust law."
Filmmaker Ben Evans and I sat down with Steingraber on the eve of the vote and asked her to speak on a number of topics, including why Illinois' historic fracking regulations should matter to the rest of the nation, and why the state is becoming another ground zero for the national climate movement.
(Part 1 of the video is above, while parts 2 through 5 are posted below.)
Jeff Biggers and Ben Evans created this article and shot these videos for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas and practical actions.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.