Fracking sounds like such a dirty word, and it is.  I don’t want my kids using it.  Even though it is not a curse word, it is one of the dirtiest words I know literally!

What is fracking?  It’s not the latest teenage slang word; it describes a mining process that is polluting our earth and making people sick.  Food & Water Watch explains:

To frack an oil or gas well, a massive volume of water, sand, and chemicals is injected underground at high pressure to break up rock formations, allowing oil or gas to flow up the well.

Fracking threatens the air we breathe, the water we drink, the communities we love, and the climate on which we depend.

Mothers are rallying against this horrible practice!  In fact, they are outraged the practice is considered for use around schools, let alone their homes.  Food & Water Watch explains and asks you to take action!

Mothers in the community of Erie, Colorado, are working desperately to stop a giant oil and gas company from fracking next to their kids’ elementary school. They’ve asked Encana, a giant oil and gas company, to abandon this one well and protect their children, but the company refuses.

Fracking is associated with increased truck traffic, dangerous chemicals as well as air and water contamination. It’s hard to believe Encana would even consider fracking near an elementary school – worse, its hard to believe that regulatory systems in Colorado have failed to prevent this from happening. And yet, Encana has gone through all of the proper channels and has the green light to start fracking on May 26th.

I have heard so many people express support of oil and shale gas mining on American soil who do not understand the issue of fracking. They believe the false job promises of domestic oil production not realizing how their very water and air are being dangerously contaminated.

Fracking is one of the biggest environmental crises facing this country!

It’s poisoning our drinking water, even making it flammable!  Propublica explains:

For the first time, a scientific study has linked natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing with a pattern of drinking water contamination so severe that some faucets can be lit on fire…

“This study provides eye-opening scientific evidence about methane contamination and the risks that irresponsible natural gas drilling poses for drinking water supplies,” said Congressman Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y. “It provides yet another reason why more study of the environmental and health risks associated with hydraulic fracturing is needed.”

Hinchey is one of several Democratic members of Congress who recently re-introduced the FRAC Act, which calls for public disclosure of the chemicals used underground. The bill, which is currently languishing in the House, would remove an exemption in federal law that prohibits the EPA from regulating hydraulic fracturing.

Such lack of federal oversight has forced states to individually look at fracking to protect its citizens. Vermont has banned it; California is looking at regulating it. The Los Angeles Times reports:

California lawmakers on Wednesday took preliminary steps to increase the size of the state’s oil and gas agency — with the condition that regulators draft rules for hydraulic fracturing, a controversial form of oil extraction that some say can pose a hazard to drinking water.

The lack of “fracking” regulations has been a sore point for legislators who have said that rules are long overdue for California, the fourth-largest oil-producing state and the birthplace of the modern environmental movement.

With the federal government doing very little, and states waffling, mothers are stepping up to ensure their children are protected from fracking.  Please support the mothers in Erie, Colorado!

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