Protests, letter call for Obama to ban fracking on federal lands

August 23, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Yesterday, a coalition of 276 environmental and consumer groups descended upon Lafayette Square, calling upon President Obama and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to ban fracking on federal lands.

The BLM recently proposed a set of rules for drilling and fracking on public lands that environmental groups say goes against BLM's mission "to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America's public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations."

"As President Obama calls for urgent action on climate change, it makes no sense to usher in a new, monumental threat to our climate, with a massive expansion of fracking for oil and gas on public lands," said Zack Malitz, campaign manager for CREDO. "President Obama should ban fracking on public lands."

Americans Against Fracking also yesterday sent a letter to President Obama encouraging him to ban fracking.

When burned, fracked gas produces significant amounts of carbon dioxide and even if methane leaks could be minimized to about 1 percent of what is produced, the International Energy Agency has estimated that a scenario of increased global dependence on fracked gas would increase the global average temperature by 3.5° Celsius, or by about 6.3° Fahrenheit, by 2035, according to Americans Against Fracking.

The submission of the letter comes just weeks after the Los Angeles Times revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shut down a fracking-related water contamination investigation in Dimock, Pennsylvania, despite evidence that water there was polluted. The Los Angeles Times reported that regional EPA staff warned senior EPA officials that water tests revealed high levels of methane in the drinking water of a number of homes in Dimock. Instead of continuing the investigation, the EPA abruptly closed the case, stopped water deliveries to the residents and deemed the water there safe to drink.

"President Obama need look no further than Pennsylvania's Allegheny National Forest to see fracking's devastating effects on our public lands. Fracking is a dangerous, destructive practice that perpetuates our reliance on outmoded forms of energy. It has no more place on our public lands than it has in our energy future," said Karen Feridun, founder of Berks Gas Truth.

For more:
- read this letter

Related Article:
Fracking regulation remains divisive

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/protests-letter-call-obama-ban-fracking-federal-lands/2013-08-23