When fracking happens there are documented impacts to people and the environment.
- Federal government has both failed to respond and has actively walked away from these impacts.
- State regulators are guilty of malfeasance.
- Documentation of harm is denied and kept secret.
This pattern repeats itself all across the United States and the globe.
Rather than addressing the problems, industry responds by using the same tactics used by the tobacco industry:
- intimidation, trade group echo chambers aka Fracking's Joe Camels,
- targeting children with propaganda,
- flooding media with misleading commercials and advertisements,
- influencing government, regulators and scientists and academic studies,
- “inoculating” reporters, academics and lawmakers,
- gagging children and adults and
- just plain lying.
Simply put: We the People are distant second priority to maximizing oil and gas production and profits. No one illustrates this point better than industry insiders themselves.
This pattern leaves the public with few choices but to move, live with contamination or fight back. But not everyone wants to or is able to move and no one wants to live with contamination.
More and more people are starting to fight back against fracking.
This list of areas that have banned fracking has not been updated since early summer but areas passing bans and moratoria continue to grow.
Protests have halted or delayed fracking in many areas including Romania where protests caused Chevron to back off!
Chevron said Thursday it has suspended searching for shale gas in northeast Romania following protests in the capital and the local area against fracking.
In Canada, a First Nation peaceful anti-fracking protest turned violent thanks to police (and military) brutality.
Canada Sends Armed Paramilitaries to Clear Fracking Protest (VIDEO)
Canadian authorities on Thursday sent armed paramilitaries wearing camouflage and carrying high-powered rifles to clear out a group of anti-fracking protesters who’ve blockaded a gas exploration site since Sept. 30, area media reported.
The blockade was being manned by members of the indigenous Elsipogtog Mi’kmaq First Nation, the Acadians and the Anglophones, who banded together with local activists to prevent a gas exploration project in New Brunswick from going forward. The company behind the project is SWN Resources Canada, a subsidiary of Houston-based SWN Energy.
Shots were fired, children were pepper-sprayed, there were numerous violent clashes, 40 people were arrested, and vehicles owned by the Texas company were burned.
According to video interviews, the protestors were seeking more information about fracking and reassurances that their water would not be contaminated. They wanted an environmental assessment.
This Al Jazeera report, First Nations clash with police at anti-fracking protest, has a number of photos including screen shots of tweets. One reporter tweeted an offensive racial slur uttered by one of the police.
The response to the brutality: Clash with native protesters in New Brunswick sparks solidarity protests.
Industry has openly declared war on the communities, calling us insurgents and using military tactics against us. So, I guess the answer to the question asked recently on EarthBlog, Are we at war?, is fairly obvious.