The Incredible Hulk is Coming to Ohio to Fight Fracking
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Mark Ruffalo is someone worth listening to—and not just because he’s known to occasionally turn into a giant green rage-monster.
He’s also deeply involved in the growing national movement against the dangerous gas drilling technique hydrofracking (AKA fracking)—a fight he’s taking to Ohio. The organization he helped found, Water Defense, is joining us in supporting a big action against fracking called Don’t Frack Ohio, which is happening in the statehouse in Columbus on June 17.
Mark just recorded this great video to invite you to join the action because Ohio is a critical state to make a stand—Gov. John Kasich is putting together an energy plan that would gag doctors from talking about fracking related illness, while imposing fewer taxes and creating bigger safety loopholes than just about any other state in the nation. Shutting down Ohio’s fracking wastewater disposal wells will put a big dent in the industry’s ability to expand drilling elsewhere. And a strong, visible anti-fracking movement will help make an impression on our presidential candidates campaign in Ohio this fall.
Here is the video of the Hulk talking about the "Don't Frack Ohio" rally. Read the rest of the EcoWatch post here.
I wonder if he'll find time while he's here to stop and visit all of the business owners and previously unemployed individuals for whom the shale boom in Ohio has been the best thing that's happened in years. Maybe he could show all of the facts and scientific evidence he's accumulated which conclusively proves that fracking does all of the horrible things he says it does.
Meanwhile, Energy in Depth is taking a look at the new Ohio regulations that "Don't Frack Ohio" fracktivists are worked up into a lather over. Not surprisingly, EID has a very different take on the bill that will soon be signed into law by Governor Kasich.
In recent weeks, the Ohio General Assembly has been working to further strengthen and improve what’s already considered one of the most stringent oil and gas regulatory regimes in the country. The current rules, updated in 2010 and signed into law by a Democratic governor, have already been hailed as “meeting its program objectives” and “well managed” by an EPA-supported independent panel of regulators and environmentalists called STRONGER. Now, building on that reputation, Ohio is poised again to raise the bar even higher.
Of course, a lot of the talk in the Buckeye State these days is centered on the Utica Shale, a 450-million year-old rock formation that underlies much of the eastern part of the state. To date, 74 Utica wells have been developed in Ohio — without a single environmental incident recorded. In fact, not a single violation has been issued despite more than 250 separate inspections by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which shows operators are following the existing rules closely. The companies developing Ohio’s natural gas wells are also voluntarily disclosing information on the fluids they use through a the website called FracFocus.org. It may be early days for shale here in Ohio, but at least in terms of safety and transparency, the Utica is already a success story.
Unfortunately, this good news was overlooked by a small number of groups, highlighted in recent articles reporting on lawmakers’ efforts to update the state’s oil and gas rules. These organizations seem focused not on fact, but sensationalist claims aimed at deterring an industry with a demonstrated record of safe, responsible development of Ohio’s natural resources. As it turns out, the claims being made by these groups are directly at odds with what the legislation proposes. Had a little more research been done, these stories would have turned out differently. So let’s set the record straight:
Read the rest of that article here.
It's just another day for the opponents in the fracking debate!
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