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| Marcellus Protest-Creative Commons |
A second NYS judge in a week, has ruled that a municipality can ban fracking in their borders. State Supreme Court Justice Donald F.Cerio, Jr said that although the state regulates drilling, local governments can decide if they want drilling at all.
From Rosalyn Cherry- New Paltz anti-fracking activist and member of Women in Black-
As New York State residents are fighting for a ban of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) they were rewarded two decisions in the court that local municipalities have the right to ban this form of toxic drilling. Not only is fracking banned but also storing, treating and disposing of any products or waste produced from fracking (called waste water or flowback.).
Both the towns of Dryden and Middlefield passed zoning laws to protect the environment and health of their residents. Dryden was sued by a major oil and developer, Anschutz. Middlefield was sued by a local landowner who wanted drilling to start so she would start to get royalties.
This leaves land use decisions up to local governments and not bureaucrats who do not live in the community. This is a blow to the corporations that make up the oil and gas industry where they argue they have the right to override the wishes of the community. To learn more about fracking here is the link to a great video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEB_Wwe-uBM
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| From the Greenpeace Campaign |
2. Nine More Aging Dirty Coal Plants to Close
A ten year, grassroots campaign to close two of the dirtiest coal plants in our country has resulted in a victory! The two plants in Chicago, were nearly a century old and had received no updates for the past 50 years. They were "grandfathered" in meaning they had laxer, air quality standards, but failed to even meet them.
Activist pressure, new air quality standards, market forces and more investment in renewals and efficiency have helped to result in a total of 106 coal plants closing since January of 2010. Additionally, 166 new coal plants have been defeated since 2002. The closing of the plants will save thousands of lives and tens of thousands of asthma attacks each year and help us in our fight against global warming.
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| from www.davidsuzuki.org- a good summary of climate change |
The multimillion dollar, climate change-denying machinations of the Koch brothers, Big Oil and the Chamber of Commerce have unfortunately had an impact. But the good news is that the percent who believe that climate change is real (62%) is rising (up 7% from last spring and 10% from 2010.) Another poll showed the same trend with even better results.
"The percentage of Americans who believe the Earth has been warming rose to 83 percent from 75 percent last year in the poll conducted Sept. 8-12, 2011."
Severe weather patterns are making climate change deniers look more and more delusional.
The fact is that 4 out of 5 Americans have been impacted by extreme weather since 2006. Just look at what happened this past week. In just five days, 150 tornadoes tore through our country, with winds raging up to 200mph and killing 39 people. In 2011, we had record breaking blizzards, tornadoes that killed 550, severe flooding, Hurricane Irene hitting the Eastern Seaboard, the hottest summer and worse drought in Texas (where 1 million acres burned) and 6,000 heat records broken across the country.
We usually have 3 or 4 major natural disasters from weather a year. In 2011 there were at least a dozen and similar patterns are being seen around the world.
So who are you going to believe- the fossil fuel industry that just wants to reap mega-profits for as long as they can, no matter the consequence, or your own eyes and experience? I believe the number who believe in climate change and want bold action to reverse it will grow exponentially this year.
4. Limbaugh on His Way Out
At least 40 advertisers have withdrawn from Rush Limbaugh since his misogynist rant against Sandra Fluke, the young college woman who testified about the necessity of birth control for women's preventative health. Sign the petition to target advertisers remaining at Credo. Nearly a half million already have!
Limbaugh's "apology" added insult to injury as he apologized for using the two words, "slut" and "prostitute", but said nothing about the three days he spoke about Ms Fluke wanting too much sex,or that she should make sex tapes available so he could see them.
Republican leaders have given tacit approval of Limbaugh's hate speech by their near universal silence. I thought Romney's spineless reaction was the worst, saying merely "It is not the language I would have used." As Jon Stewart and others have asked, what would you have called her? A trollop? A lady of the night? Hope Fox's Bill O'Reilly who backed Limbaugh's despicable comments is targeted next.
5. Protesting a Felony?
This week the House passed a bill (HR347) that would make it a felony to protest near anyone who has Secret Service protection- even if you did not know they were in the vicinity and that it was illegal to do so. Only 3 Republicans (!) voted against it, One of them, Justin Amash (R-MI) called it "The First Amendment Rights Eradication Act". The bill sailed through the Senate unanimously and very quietly earlier this month. Only a veto by president Obama can stop it. Sign the petition here.
The full text of H.R. 347 is available here:http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h112-347
This is what is at stake-
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Next time, as promised- The Right to Know/Label GM Foods movement is gaining traction. We have the right to know what we are eating and feeding our families!
Keep Faith.
