Gathering No Moss

Dear RDA members and friends,

If you have been following the story of well water contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming, first brought to national attention in Gasland, then you know that the EPA is under extreme pressure to back off from its efforts to get to the bottom of the situation. Preliminary results from a study the agency conducted indicate that drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and oil and gas production are likely the culprits. While the study is being peer reviewed, industry push back has been ferocious. The EPA needs evidence that they have political support to do their job and follow where scientific investigation, and not political pressure, leads. You have until the end of Monday, March 12th to let the EPA know you support their efforts. Please utilize the following link provided by our friends at Earthworks to contact the EPA:

 http://bit.ly/EPA-Pavillion-study 

For an excellent summary of much that is wrong with the way shale gas development is proceeding here and throughout the nation, read this month's Rolling Stone magazine article, "The Big Fracking Bubble: The Scam Behind the Gas Boom" by Jeff Goodell.

Of Pennsylvania's largest leaseholder, Chesapeake, and its CEO Aubrey McClendon, Goodell writes:

....what McClendon leaves out is the real nature of the business he's in. Fracking, it turns out, is about producing cheap energy the same way the mortgage crisis was about helping realize the dreams of middle-class homeowners. For Chesapeake, the primary profit in fracking comes not from selling the gas itself, but from buying and flipping the land that contains the gas. The company is now the largest leaseholder in the United States, owning the drilling rights to some 15 million acres - an area more than twice the size of Maryland. McClendon has financed this land grab with junk bonds and complex partnerships and future production deals, creating a highly leveraged, deeply indebted company that has more in common with Enron than ExxonMobil. As McClendon put it in a conference call with Wall Street analysts a few years ago, "I can assure you that buying leases for x and selling them for 5x or 10x is a lot more profitable than trying to produce gas at $5 or $6 per million cubic feet."

What do you suppose McClendon's thoughts are on that equation at the current $2.47 per million cubic feet? To read the entire Rolling Stone article, go to: 

Here in Lycoming County, the Williamsport Guardian newspaper and WXPI community radio are holding a fund raising dinner at the Peter Herdic House restaurant on Thursday March 22nd. The free, bi-monthly Guardian is committed to focusing on shale gas development issues in fulfilling their mission of promoting awareness, arts, culture and education in North-Central PA. Come and meet the people behind a valuable addition to life in this region and join in a night of fine dining, fun, and good conversation.

Where

The Peter Herdic House

407 W. Fourth Street, Williamsport, PA

When

Thursday, March 22, 2012

   Social Hour/Cash Bar 6-7 PM     Dinner 7 PM

Cost

$45 Per Person

Menu

Tossed Salad

Chicken in Champagne Cream Sauce

w/Mushrooms, Grapes and Toasted Almonds

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Or

Vegetarian Option: Winter Squash & Vegetable Lasagna

What Else ??

Silent Auction

Reservation Deadline: March 15th

Contact Cynthia Staiman Vosk ph. 745-2245 or: originalcyn13@aol.com

(Can't make it? Donations always welcome!)

Proceeds benefit The Williamsport Guardian, Inc.

The Williamsport Guardian & WXPI Williamsport Community Radio