A Call for Environmental Representation In Pennsylvania
As fracking ravages the health of PA residents and our global environment, the Green Party remains the sole political opposition to ecocide.
It has taken just over a decade for hydraulic fracturing to entrench itself in Pennsylvania and spread statewide, forming a beltway of 10,000 wells that arc from the southwest to the northeast. Colloquially referred to as fracking, the process involves drilling and pumping high pressure chemical-laden water and sand deep into underground shale deposits to release and capture natural gas and oil. Over the years, it has become evident that economic prosperity has fallen short of original promises, while alarming reports of public health decline, potent greenhouse gas leaks, and environmental devastation have bubbled to the surface. Public opinion among Pennsylvania voters, once favoring fracking, has since completely split down the middle. Yet when it comes to government representation, half of the Pennsylvanian electorate has virtually no one to turn to. The Green Party of Pennsylvania believes our citizens deserve politicians committed to guarding public and environmental health, unencumbered by lies that fracking is safe and economic devastation is the only alternative.
In August, the ruling Democratic and Republican parties held their presidential conventions and claimed to have Americans’ best interests at heart. Yet, both presented platforms that fall short of the societal changes necessary to prevent 1.5°C global temperature rise and the worst effects of climate change predicted by the science-based climate models of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other governmental and nongovernmental bodies. The Republican Party, in an unconscionable feat of irresponsibility, presented no environmental protection or climate change mitigation policies whatsoever. And while the Democratic Party has bolstered their clean energy proposals in just the past few months after convening what they called a “climate task force,” they still support a reliance on fossil fuel production for decades while also allowing the creation of new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Invited to help craft the Party’s national platform in that task force was Pennsylvania’s own Conor Lamb, a U.S. House representative for the freshly redrawn 17th District (Beaver County and the northwestern half of Allegheny County) and home to just over 70 fracking wells. Rep. Lamb has spent his first term as a strong advocate of the natural gas industry, and his position likely contributed to the continued support of fracking in his party’s 2020 platform, with the reluctant capitulation of Democratic progressives.
Lamb and fossil fuel industry representatives have claimed that fracking is “clean” and “safe,” but the findings of science and health reports beg to differ. Because the state departments of health and environmental protection have ignored the crisis brought on by fracking pollution, government led studies on its health and environmental effects are scarce. Politicians have used this to their advantage over the years, telling the public they have nothing to fear because the departments of health and environmental protection have not found links between fracking and certain health issues or fracking and certain environmental pollution. This is because they have not been looking. Fortunately, this hole has been partially filled by science-based nonprofits, independent newsrooms, and concerned public citizens. What we have learned from their studies, investigative reporting, and firsthand testimony is not encouraging.
There are communities in Pennsylvania that drive out of town weekly to buy dozens of gallons of water to drink and bathe safely because their well water was contaminated by cancer-causing toxic chemicals leaching in from nearby fracking wells. There are numerous reports of farm animals, pets, and wildlife sickening or dying from contaminated drinking water and radioactive chemical waste released into waterways. In Southwestern Pennsylvania, an alarming jump in the rate of rare cancers has been recorded since 2008, when fracking started proliferating in the region. Only now, after over ten years is the Pennsylvania Department of Health planning to initiate a study that examines whether there is a correlation between the two. And in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, which Democrats now fashionably claim to be concerned with, a recent scientific study found Pennsylvania emits about one million tons of methane annually due to fracking. Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, contributing to a quarter of all global warming. It is capable of about eighty times the warming caused by carbon dioxide for the approximately twenty years it persists in the atmosphere before turning into CO2 itself and lasting for centuries.
Representative Lamb supports this industry that poisons Pennsylvanian waters and sickens its people, but it is important to remember he is far from alone. Such a vast majority of Republican and Democratic politicians here support fracking that finding opposition is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Governor Tom Wolf, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, all eighteen of the state’s current US representatives, and both of its two senators support the continued use of fracking with the amount of regulation needed the only variation in opinion. In state congress, out of a combined 253 politicians, just a handful of progressive Democrats favor a statewide ban. Even DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell, charged specifically with protecting the health of Pennsylvania’s ecosystems, will not publicly condemn the fracking industry. Some might have hoped June’s bombshell Grand Jury Report exposing the statewide scope of pollution and absent regulatory effort would be enough to spur state lawmakers into action, but alas money seems to have spoken louder than the cries of the sick.
The Green Party of Pennsylvania has officially opposed the practice of fracking since 2008, when it was evident that the use of volatile chemicals involved could harm local communities and waterways. Unfortunately, we were right. In the years since, we have heard the voices of the sick. We have seen the destruction done to our major waterways and delicate ecosystems. We know that the continuation of oil and gas drilling means more greenhouse gas emissions and the resignation of our planet’s climate stability. Thus far, our state’s government and business institutions have failed us, and they continue to lead us on a path to ruin. That is why we put forth our candidates every election, so Pennsylvanian voters have a choice.
This year the PA Green Party will have candidates for Auditor General, Attorney General, State Treasurer, State Representatives for Districts 23, 45 (write-in), 64, and 127 (write-in), U.S. Vice President, and U.S. President (both write-in). All support banning the dangerous practice of fracking. As a third party, facing limited resources and discriminatory election laws, we are aware our capacity to bring change is no where near what is needed. That is why the Green Party of Pennsylvania calls upon all Pennsylvanians to become politically active in their communities, to raise awareness of the dangers of fracking, and to pressure their elected officials toward opposing the practice while providing relief to the communities and habitats that have been decimated. We strongly encourage Pennsylvanians deeply concerned about public and environmental health to either explore running for local office in opposition to fracking, or help those who will. The crisis our state is in does not require more traditional businessmen or corporate-backed politicians, it requires more environmental stewards.
Note to Readers: The Green Party of Allegheny County needs your support to continue our pursuit of people and planet over profits. Please consider making a donation. We also encourage you to get involved in Green politics.
