U.S. President Lauds Controversial ‘Fracking’ Process In State of Union Address

 By Doug Draper

Those opposed to a natural gas drilling process called “fracking” because of the impact it could have on the environment, including the waters of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, could find themselves coming up against a cheerleader for the process more formidable than the petro-chemical industry.

U.S. President Barack Obama on the "fracking" bandwagon during State of Union speech

 That cheerleader is none other than the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

 This January 24, during his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress, Obama lauded the so-called fracking process (more technically known as “hydraulic fracturing”) for obtaining natural gas from underground layers of shale as a key to his country’s independence from Middle East oil and a practice that has the potential to create 600,000 American jobs.

 Opponents of fracking fear for any impact it may have on underground aquifers and on water in rivers and lakes where the industrial chemicals used to free up gas in the shale could potentially migrate

 In the greater Niagara region, voices have recently been raised by citizens on both sides of the Niagara River and by municipalities on the Ontario side like Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, Thorold, Wainfleet and Fort Erie about plans to ship chemically-laced water from the fracking process to a wastewater plant in Niagara Falls, N.Y. for treatment and disposal in the Niagara River. Those voices were joined this past December by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiation, a coalition of more than 80 U.S. and Canadian cities and towns, which called on provincial, state and federal governments in both countries to host public hearings on the potential impact of fracking on Great Lakes waters.

 So far there has been no response from upper levels of governments to the coalition’s call for hearings. And until Obama delivered his State of the Union address, there had been no real indication that the U.S. government would require petro-chemical companies to finally reveal all of the chemicals they are using in the fracking process.

 In the address, Obama said he “is requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use.” Whether that requirement will be extended to companies drilling on private lands in states like New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio remains to be seen.

 The president insisted that “America will develop this (natural gas) resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk,” and he went on to declare that “the development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.”

A card calling for the banning of fracking in New York State. Visit http://www.nyagainstfracking.com to learn more.

 There has already been some negative response to Obama’s enthusiasm for fracking from the environmental community. Jennifer Krill, executive director of the American group Earthworks, stated that the president’s address “made no mention of a growing body of evidence that (using the process to drill for the gas) has serious known consequences, and much of those impacts have yet to be studied. Promoting gas production in the face of such evidence,” Krill added, “effectively prioritizes the profits of the oil and gas industry over the communities’ health, their drinking water, and the environment.”

 Environmentalists and others may find it very hard to get Obama to say no to any plans involving fracking though. Last week, he put the brakes on plans to build a pipeline to send crude from Canada’s tar sands in Alberta to oil refineries down in Texas out of concern that a proper environmental impact review had not been completed yet. That decision drew charges from his political opponents that he is risking the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and a significant source of energy.

 Imagine what an outcry there would be from his political opponents during a presidential election year if he said no to fracking projects too.

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