Faced With a Fracking Giant, This Small Town Just Legalized Civil Disobedience

[pmorlan1]

Last edited Mon May 16, 2016, 12:40 PM - Edit history (1)

A new first-in-the-nation law will shield residents from arrest as they use direct action to stop fracking-wastewater injection wells

A tiny community sitting on a 27-square-mile piece of Western Pennsylvania wanted to send a big message to the energy company planning to deposit toxic fracking wastewater under its neighborhoods. And its 700 residents wanted it to be perfectly legal for them to loudly object.

Grant Township had seen what happens when people nationwide take to the streets to protest bullying corporations: Arrests. Lots of them.

So Grant Township planned ahead. Two weeks ago, it passed a law that protects its residents from arrest if they protest Pennsylvania General Energy Company’s (PGE) creation of an injection well.

Residents believe this law is the first in the United States to legalize nonviolent civil disobedience against toxic wastewater injection wells. Township Supervisor Stacy Long said. “We’re doing it to safeguard the residents and protect as many people as possible,” she said.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/faced-with-a-fracking-giant-this-small-town-just-legalized-civil-disobedience-20160513

Great idea! Good for them!

[northernsouthern]

1. I wonder if we will see more of these?

I know in Texas they just steam rolled over the local laws.

https://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/may/20/editorial-lawmakers-ignore-local-control-in-fracki/

[pmorlan1]

2. That sucks

People are so sick of this shit. They are organizing and banding together to fight but the powerful fracking industry and their bought and paid for legislators are putting up road blocks. We just have to keep being creative in figuring out how to fight them.

[sweetapogee]

6. the township

doesn't have the resources to enforce this rule and could very well get crushed by this. It also may have some unforeseen negative impacts in other areas such as budgeting for other services the township provides. Sorry if this offends.

[malthaussen]

14. PA managed to avoid that.

Act 13 attempted to permit fracking companies to override local zoning laws, but it was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. Which doesn't prevent people from fracking the hell out of PA, just makes it a bit more complicated.

-- Mal

[Baobab]

31. In Pennsylvania, North Dakota and many other states, fracking >> radiation sometimes

"naturally occurring" radium and other radioactive elements are brought up and end up in the sediments left behind by fracking wastewater and in the slurry/brine stuff that comes out. They often dont know its there and dont wnt to deal with it.

Fracking also causes dozens of serious health problems, especially for the unborn children of pregnant women, infants and children.

The combined effect of all this is an ecological nightmare that may end up causing huge amounts of illness - the cost of that illness likely will become astronomical in the future.

That is likely why the government and corporations want to shift these costs to families. Dependence on unaffordable private for profit healthcare families often cannot afford makes it hard for victims to get medical documentation of illness. Only the wealthier families would end up wih it and they are the ones unlikelier to live near fracking.


Rural area populations may be swelled by people leaving cities. They really want to deregulate energy so it can be shipped where it will fetch the highest prices- (Asia)

Then US prices will rise to global average levels, which although they are currently half what they were a year or two ago but will likely go back up again when/if economic activity in Asia (which is in the middle of a slump) picks up again.

So if there is a big, sudden rise in heating and cooling costs - that will then displace a lot of people from urban homes - especially renters. If it happens, that would be a prime example of how out of touch Democratic establishment has been which will heavily impact urban populations, AFTER the election.

For more on the health issues - frac-related see also:

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36025-fracking-s-air-pollution-puts-infants-and-children-at-risk-of-developing-heart-lung-problems-new-study

And http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1306722/

"Birth Outcomes and Maternal Residential Proximity to Natural Gas Development in Rural Colorado"

http://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/energy-of-tomorrow/articles/2014/12/05/fracking-linked-to-infertility-miscarriages-birth-defects

and

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/10/30/toxic-chemicals-and-carcinogens-skyrocket-near-fracking-sites-study-says

[zentrum]

3. Brilliant. A model to follow. nt

[EdwardBernays]

4. Don't worry

President Fracking will soon sort all of this out.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/apr/13/bernie-s/does-hillary-clinton-support-fracking/

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. +1000000

[Plucketeer]

16. Yup!

She'll polish up that executive action pen and specify only GOOD Fracking.

[Glassunion]

37. They could partner up with Clean Coal... That would be doubleplusgood.

[Baobab]

42. she cant, WTO demands it be reregulated en toto- our european friends must be liberated from russia-

They cant do that, once they turn on the export part its on for good, amounts cannot be limited, and the WTO gets jurisdiction on it.. since its globally traded..

http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2016/03/want-keep-fossil-fuels-ground-stop-these-trade-deals

"its an emergency" (meaning they want to get top dollar from natural gas and a potential government bailout based on inflated values of it if we try to stop it- could be many trillions of dollars from taxpayers for nothing- )

https://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/publications/foee_ttip-isds-fracking-060314.pdf

Selling off our cheap natural gas to Asia (they likely get more there) "until its gone" could cause a cascade of bad effects on jobs and housing all across the country...

So, they want to rush! Put it in a trade deal so its secret..

of course- before people realize the huge cost to society of it-

Side effect will be lots of illness, fracking causes serious health effects to unborn children, infants, children and adults-

lots of housing will become very expensive to heat and cool too.

Will need double or triple paned windows, better insulation, heat exchangers

[hopemountain]

23. and the TPP -

giving more rights to corporations to exploit, pollute, and further exploit the 99%.

[Baobab]

30. TTlP will preempt local fracking BANs at the supranational level- Wonder if this will work to preven

I wonder if this will work to prevent that?

Literally the first time I heard of TTlP was in the energy context, and it was described to me as a scheme to make it impossible to sue the big players by tying fracking and drilling to international law and the "energy emergency" in Europe.

(They want to ship US energy to Eurasia - especially Asia- where it fetches several times as much)

So it appears that one of the main goals of the energy stuff in TTlP is to make it almost impossible to sue big energy companies for environmental catastrophes "if they use subcontractors properly" they will be able to hide behind fly by night, often international subcontracting companies that may turn out to have no seize-able assets either.

Prrempting national, state, local laws and local bans is evil-

[hopemountain]

36. clearly stated and understood, baobab -

thanks.

these corporations are already trying to over ride and de-legitimize local laws here in the states, as well.

[Baobab]

40. *they wont tell people* They will create state laws that ban local laws and try to replicate the FTA

This seems to be what they do, they create cover stories.

They don't want the general public knowing that their rights to vote for different policy have been taken or are being taken.

For Example:health care

Instead they created a huge fake "debate" now three times, this is the third time.

I mean, imagine them telling the truth,

"your rights to have affordable health care have been given away to corporations by corrupt politicians, now we're pretty sure that we've done it well enough to have it stick- it lasts forever."

The same applies to the local environment and local land use..


Here is some info on fracking and ISDS:

http://www.ciel.org/us-states-ability-to-protect-from-toxic-chemicals-under-attack-on-two-fronts-at-home-and-abroad/

http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/04/02/our-energy-moment-blue-engine-pr-firm-fracked-gas-exports-pr-campaign

https://www.foeeurope.org/no-fracking-way-report-060314

https://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/publications/foee_ttip-isds-fracking-060314.pdf

http://www.ciel.org/news/leaked-ttip-draft-for-chemicals-sector-reveals-a-toxic-partnership/

http://www.ciel.org/news/fast-tracked-trade-deals-rush-us-toward-a-toxic-partnership/

http://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/CIEL_Preempting-Public-Interest_22Sept2015.pdf

http://action.sierraclub.org/site/DocServer/Analysis_of_EU_Energy_Proposal_for_TTIP-Final_-_Sierra_C.pdf

[hopemountain]

41. thank you for the links!

yes, this is exactly what they are doing. and, it is unbelievable to me that state and local governments are often going along with the thievery. they are now doing everything they did to indigenous people's on their reservations lands - to all of the people of america.

[Baobab]

43. Almost nobody in government at all levels evens knows they are doing this stuff- at all..

I don't think the ignorance is fake..

The people pushing these things quite literally are taking over the future world by deception and this cheap trick.

You can get a good idea of the dynamic in this document about health care reform in the state of maine. A rare moment of honesty.

This is from 2006, after this now it seems there is a semi organized cover up of these facts in states- You'll notice those state efforts never complete-

Its because the elements of them which make it work are barred.

[hopemountain]

47. wow. reminds me of

the massive medicare cuts during the bush2 years & voted into legislation years before they actually took place in 2007. the aarp was totally complicit because their payoff was the promise of huge payoffs with the supplemental and drug "insurance" premiums & copays.

baobab - you don't have to answer this - but why do we know and they do not?

[MrMickeysMom]

5. The group who is active in my community pushed for that...

SW PA is taking up the challenge and we will not back down. I applaud these folks. I only stay active on their newsletter, as I'm working mostly to help Bernie when not at my day job.

Here's another inspiration...

[Jitter65]

7. Well which do they want right now, fracking or coal? There are no windmills in this area.

Of course, candlelight and laters will help.

[MrMickeysMom]

8. But there ARE wind turbines in Pennsylvania...

There is also geothermal and solar energy.

You need to hop on board the education train. Use the internet to help you, or better yet, attend a local group who follows this issue. If you listen to Bernie Sanders address our neighbors, the people of WV, you'll notice they cheered him on to victory in that state BASED on what he has planned to move into sustainable job growth from the shrinking percentage of coal.

Here - Use this to do a little reading as you gain your knowledge base...

[LiberalEsto]

10. You can see wind turbines along the PA Turnpike somewhere between Breezewood and Pittsburgh nt

[MrMickeysMom]

20. Yes, we see them all the time...

We travel back and forth to see family. I love the site of them.

[Baobab]

32. geothermal is available everywhere because the temps a few feet down are 55ish all the time

Good thing to know!

People can pump air through a few hundred feet of buried pipe and get 55 degree air anywhere.

It doesn't take much additional energy to make 55 degree air comfortable year round.
The costs of these systems which then just require a fan, and some additional heating or cooling, not much, pays for itself pretty quickly.

Right there people could ave a lot of money.

[MrMickeysMom]

34. Excellent point...

Maybe Florida would be a place where you couldn't go down that far, but maybe I'm wrong about that.

[Baobab]

35. Here you go! Looks like the mean underground temperature in Florida is around 72-79 degrees F.

It depends on where you are and what depth your pipes are..



This is kind of interesting!

https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0701/report.pdf

[Baobab]

45. Fracking because they want to export the natural gas to asia

where they get several times more money.

so not only will prices rise, the amount of activity will go way up..and international private law will supranationally prevent countries, states and communities from changing any policy, enacting any law, or through omission, or non-cooperation place any obstacles in the way even if the result of this insanity is environmental disasters.

The goal is clearly the creation of barriers which in all practical terms render irreversible their nullification of the ability of voters and voting or legislators, presidents, senators, congresspeople, MPs, dictators, officials, kommisars, tribal chiefs, citizens, or anybody similar anywhere to change anything, forever.

[certainot]

21. penn state u is working for fracking interests in that it

supports 11 pro fracking global warming denying limbaugh stations

that makes pen state a good place to protest because if penn st, home of famous climate scientist michael mann even started discussing the absurdity of their endorsement of those stations the state gop would go nuts, media would notice, and advertisers would flee.

Pittsburgh 2, Temple 1 also work against these local efforts

all rw radio stations are profracking

if the fossil fuels industry would pay $1000 for a 1 hour pro fracking infomercial on a station endorsed by the nittany lions those stations are worth 11 x 15 hrs a day (avg) x $1000 = 11 x 3.9 mil$/yr or about $3.5 MIL /month FREE pro fracking republican advertising!

penn state, pitt, and temple are good places to protest fracking republicans

[MrMickeysMom]

22. Excellent advice, certainot...

Thank you.

[certainot]

25. just to add- the licensing revenue from those stations is probably miniscule

compared with tv etc.

if protests of any kind get media and start making a difference those local blowhards will start attacking.

if that amt can be determined and a fundraising effort made to make up the difference it probably wouldn't take long and would really shame the university and those who would argue it's about money, free markets, the school's not making political choices (global warming ain't political) etc.

many schools have a lot of other apolitical station alternatives already

michael mann actually got death threats from people re global warming, and i heard limbaugh calling him a traitor while he was drumming up the climate-gate email hoax to kill the obama- copenhagen talks. he might be interested in getting involved or at least saying something.

while the national and local rw talkers on those stations and their fossil fuels think tank guests aren't talking about the benefits of fracking and denying global warming all the time it happens on a weekly basis on a lot of stations and the overall effect is to help republicans and the fossil fuels industry deregulate and obstruct regulation.

[baran]

11. Do you have a link?

I'd like to share this article. Thanks!

[dpibel]

12. Here's a link

http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/faced-with-a-fracking-giant-this-small-town-just-legalized-civil-disobedience-20160513

[pmorlan1]

15. Thanks

It was really late when I posted the story and I forgot to add the link. Thanks for posting it for everyone. I've corrected it now.

[malthaussen]

13. Why does the article not link to the ordinance?

I would like to look at the language of the actual law, because "it legalizes civil disobedience" does not compute for me. What, exactly, are they doing?

-- Mal

[MadDAsHell]

17. This works ONLY IF everyone in the town is engaged in and supporting the civil disobedience.

If not, I could see an equal protection violation claim because you're favoring Group A (protestors) TO THE DETRIMENT OF Group B (non-protestors).

It's now A RIGHT for members of Group A to block the street that Group B members take to their job. I don't see this flying for very long unless EVERY CITIZEN is on board.

[womanofthehills]

18. Our small town really came together to fight a Kinder Morgan CO2 Lobos pipeline

We did our own health impact assessment working with an outside firm, Human Impact Partners of Oakland, Cal.

http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/07/27/new-mexico-residents-fighting-back-against-kinder-morgan-co2-pipeline-their-own-health-impact-assessment

When the price of oil dropped, Kinder Morgan dropped the project - for now. I was really freaked for a while because it was initially going through my land.

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Novel. Thinking out of the box. Probably not the last time we'll see this in the coming years

Power to the People. The political revolution is on
[center]

[/center][font size="1"]From Wikipedia Commons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eugène_Delacroix_-_La_liberté_guidant_le_peuple.jpg)
(Public Domain)
[/font]

[laserhaas]

24. PA has laws that forbid doctors from telling poisoned kids

Parents...what fracking chemicals the kids are dying of

Doctors could lose their license and go to jail

http://www.thenationaltriallawyers.org/2015/02/doctor-fracking-law/

[sorefeet]

28. Number one, that is the reason

I think the Hippocratic oath is no more than the cub scout oath. And the other reason I think doctors are no better than cops. Good cops turn a blind eye and good doctors turn a blind eye. It makes them both bad in my eyes. Any doctor who abides by this law is a spineless corporate puppet. And a spineless human being.

[Glassunion]

38. The doctors are not turning a blind eye... They are the ones fighting the law.

They don't feel that they should be gagged, that it's overly broad and a violation of their free speech.

[Baobab]

33. Where is HRC on that issue, I would like to know?

Does anybody know?


>http://www.thenationaltriallawyers.org/2015/02/doctor-fracking-law/

[Baobab]

44. they are pushing the big gagging - INTERNATIONALLY - for 48 countries - in big trans atlant1c deal

They are trying to do this hushing of essential health information on all levels internationally you know..

https://www.foeeurope.org/TTIP-secret-deal-United-States-270315

http://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/en/Publications/2015/The-power-of-lobbies/

https://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/37799/en/eu-trade-secrets-directive-threat-to-health,-environment,-free-speech-and-worker-mobility

Gagging in both US+EU - in the big T deal..

[laserhaas]

46. It is so sick..they refuse to tell Congressmen & Senators

what the chemicals are ..claiming they're proprietary

[oldandhappy]

26. super

gives me a wee dollop of hope for all of us

[Silver_Witch]

27. Civil disobedience may save us all!

[Nye Bevan]

29. Seems to me that this would be a violation of the First Amendment.

I doubt that the authorities can pick certain pet issues and grant immunity from arrest to protesters providing that they are protesting something on the list.

And before anyone jumps down my throat just imagine a city in the South granting immunity from arrest to anyone protesting against abortion clinics (for example).

[Judi Lynn]

39. Outstanding news. Thank you,pmorlan1. n/t