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People Who Want to Ban Fracking Immediately, Says 
Joe Biden, 'Oughta Vote for Someone Else'

"Might I recommend Bernie Sanders: the climate candidate," responds Vermont senator's press secretary.

People Who Want to Ban Fracking Immediately, Says Joe Biden, 'Oughta Vote for Someone Else'

"Might I recommend Bernie Sanders: the climate candidate," responds Vermont senator's press secretary.

by

Eoin Higgins, staff writer

If you want a candidate committed to banning fracking in the United States immediately, find another candidate than Joe Biden.

That's the advice of Biden himself, given to an activist from the Sunrise Movement in a video posted online Thursday after the two discussed the former vice president's adviser Heather Zichal and Biden's plans for the future of fracking.

In the video of the interaction posted on Twitter by Sunrise Thursday afternoon, Biden appears confused about Zichal's connections to the natural gas industry, protesting that the adviser "worked for us in the administration."

"No, no, I know," the Sunrise activist patiently explains as Biden grabs him by the shoulders. "But she also worked—"

"If you look at my record," Biden begins, "look at my record. Just look at my record."

The two discuss fracking as well. Biden tells the activist that "you can't ban fracking right now" because "you gotta transition away from it."

"You're gonna ban fracking all across America, right now, right?" Biden asks the Sunrise activist.

"I would love to," the activist replies.
"I'd love to, too," says Biden. "I'd love to make sure we can't use any oil or gas, period. Now, now, is it possible?"

"Yes," replies the Sunrise activist.

"Well, you oughta vote for someone else," says Biden, releasing the young man and moving on.

As Sludge reported in May, adviser Zichal "recently occupied a lucrative seat on the board of the Texas-based liquified natural gas (LNG) company Cheniere Energy." Cheniere is a frequent donor to Republican politicians.

CounterPunch editor Jeffrey St. Clair referred to Biden's "No Malarkey" bus tour in a tweet about the interaction.

"Here's some choice malarkey from Biden on his climate advisor, Heather Zichal, who pulled down more than a cool (or hot, I guess) million on the board of Cheniere Energy, a Texas-based liquified natural gas company whose execs she'd gotten cozy with while working for Obama," tweeted St. Clair.

The interaction caught the attention of Briahna Joy Gray, campaign press secretary for Bernie Sanders, who earlier this year added a federal fracking ban to his 2020 campaign platform.

"Biden says 'you ought to vote for somebody else' if you want us to ban fracking and transition away from fossil fuels now," tweeted Gray. "Might I recommend Bernie Sanders: the climate candidate."

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/05/people-who-want-ban-fracking-immediately-says-joe-biden-oughta-vote-someone-else?fbclid=IwAR2yB8KWSKzQyvg3wWtx207ny9ukqiG9My-E7Iy7pojsM26zQ-87_wzPUcU

This, that......

Bold Nebraska

"The oil companies have drilled there for 100 years, and now all the easy-to-get-out oil is gone and 'Big Oil' has to resort to riskier methods," Carson resident Glen White told the city council. "They get all the profits. We get all the risks. Their profits, our resources."

 

 

California City Temporarily Bans All New Oil Drilling Over Fracking Concerns

thinkprogress.org

The city of Carson says it needs time to study the effects of using fracking to extract oil.

 

 

 

 

Howling For Wolves

Here is Minnesota's "database" on wolf mortality. For 2 yrs, Howling for Wolves has made formal requests to the DNR for information on all sources of wolf deaths. We received a 6" stack of incident reports. An "Incident Report" is submitted by a DNR conservation officer, filed away, and not analyzed or available for public scrutiny. HFW learned there is no overall tracking of wolf diseases and deaths, and no publicly accessible data on wolf-ivestock conflicts for farmers eith...er. No one tracks when wolves are killed as incidental catches in traps or snare set for other animals.

An important editorial in The Forum this week states: "Legislation to temporarily suspend wolf hunting, trapping and snaring in Minnesota is a rational response to legitimate concerns about the management of the state’s wolf population."

Read: http://bit.ly/1fS9wts

‪#‎SF2256

 

 

 

 

 

Rebuild The Dream's photo.

 

 

Elizabeth Warren is hands down the best person. (Thank you, Young Progressive Voices)

 

 

 

 

Grist.org

The oil and gas behemoth is returning to the Gulf of Mexico to drill, now that we've all forgotten that pesky little Deepwater Horizon thing.

 

BP is gonna drill in the Gulf of Mexico again, because THAT’s worked so well

grist.org

Maybe BP's learned its lesson and will be more careful ... and maybe tomorrow Tina Fey and I will become BFFs.

 

 

 

Keith Olbermann Fan Page shared US Uncut's photo.

 

Share if you agree. Like our page US Uncut and invite your friends to like us too.

 

 

 

EARTHWORKS

Injecting fracking wastewater underground causes earthquakes.

In 2012, California injected 23 billion gallons of waterwater from the oil and gas industry underground.

Anyone else see a problem here? http://shakyground.org

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Reich

In few days the Supreme Court will hand down its decision in “Shaun McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission” – which might use the bizarre logic of the Court's “Citizens United” decision to abandon all limits on what individuals can spend on political campaigns – another huge victory for the Koch brothers. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but it’s interesting that only months after “Citizens United” was decided, the Koch brothers' invite to their twice-yearly political retreat noted that previous guests at such meetings had included Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas (according to the New York Times).

 

 

 

 

This & That!

Daily Kos

Amen.

Thanks to Occupy Democrats for this.

Climate Progress

Can Colorado save its frack bans?

Colorado Ballot Measure Could Let Towns Ban Fracking

thinkprogress.org

As the natural gas industry tries to fight Colorado's fracking bans, organizers are working on a ballot initiative to let localities ban drilling.

 

 

 

 

 

Will they vote for Environmental Destruction and Greed?

Institute for Southern Studies

"[North Carolina] Gov. Pat McCrory came to the legislative building Wednesday evening to whip votes on a newly crafted measure to lift the state's moratorium on fracking."

 

McCrory, GOP make last-minute push to lift state's fracking moratorium

Submitted by John_Frank on 2013-07-24 16:28

Tags: Under the Dome | fracking | House Republican caucus | Pat McCrory | shale gas

Gov. Pat McCrory came to the legislative building Wednesday evening to whip votes on a newly crafted measure to lift the state's moratorium on fracking.

The fracking provision -- which would lift the moratorium July 1, 2015 -- is tucked into a proposed conference report on Senate Bill 127, a measure to reorganize the state's commerce department and privatize part of the state's job recruitment efforts.

The new measure would authorize the state to start issuing permits for shale gas exploration, a major priority for McCrory and Senate Republicans, according to a copy obtained by Dome.

But House Republicans are split on the issue -- having defeated a similar proposal earlier this session. A year earlier, GOP lawmakers advanced fracking but said it wouldn't take place until the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission wrote 120-plus rules to regulate the practice. McCrory is expected to speak to House Republicans at 6 p.m. to try to convince them to approve the measure, which comes a day before lawmakers are expected to adjourn for the year.

McCrory also canceled a trip to Aspen, Colo., on Thursday where he was to appear with an all-star panel of Republican governors. A spokesman said he needed to focus on the end of the legislative session.

Read more here: http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/mccrory_gop_make_lastminute_push_to_lift_states_fracking_moratorium#storylink=cpy

 

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/mccrory_gop_make_lastminute_push_to_lift_states_fracking_moratorium

 

 

 

 

Fracking Massachusetts?

We KNOW what FRACKING has done elsewhere.

Massachusetts can't afford to contaminate water, farmland, air and destroy our environment.

PLEASE add your name and speak out! Please share.

Environmental Action members have stood against fracking around the nation, from Sacramento to Scranton. So when we heard from our friends at Environment Massachusetts that shale gas had been discovered in beautiful Western Mass—and that the dangerous and driling practice of fracking could come to you, we knew you would want to add your voices to theirs to ban fracking before it can start. Sign today and our friends at Environment Massachusetts will deliver your signature directly to the State House in Boston on Wednesday! Jesse, Environmental Action Dear Friend, If you’ve seen Josh Fox's harrowing movie Gasland, or are awaiting the sequel premiering July 7th on HBO,  you know that the dangerous gas drilling process known as fracking is an environmental tragedy unfolding in rural Pennsylvania. But it could happen here. Geologists recently discovered shale gas in Western Massachusetts, and there is a real possibility that dirty gas drilling could begin in our state. Let’s keep fracking out of Massachusetts. Western Mass. is the site of the Pioneer Valley and the Mohawk Trail, the Connecticut River and family farms, picturesque small towns and the drinking water supply for more than 2 million Bostonians. The last thing we need are gas drillers to bulldoze their way into the area and start injecting toxic chemical-laden water deep into the ground to force gas to the surface. In Pennsylvania, fracking is contaminating drinking water sources, making nearby residents sick, spewing global warming pollution, and turning rural landscapes into industrial zones. Don’t let them frack Western Mass. Join us in taking a stand against dirty drilling. If we want to keep fracking out of Massachusetts, we’ll need to act fast—before oil and gas salesmen swindle property-owners into drilling leases and the lobbyists from Exxon and Halliburton hit Beacon Hill. We want to deliver 15,000 petition signatures against fracking by Wednesday so that our leaders know that the western Mass. landscape, the quality of our air, and our precious drinking water are too valuable to risk. Help us reach 15,000 signatures to keep Massachusetts safe from fracking. Johanna Neumann Environment Massachusetts Regional Director P.S. – Every single signature counts if we are going to keep Massachusetts safe from fracking, so please forward this petition to five friends who want to keep dangerous drilling out of our state once you have signed.

Don't Frack New York!

This is a growing nationwide movement. Where's Massachusetts?

Don't Frack New York shared Frack Action's photo.

 

LIKE & SHARE if you're ready to make history tomorrow, to create a frack free future powered by renewable energy!

Click here to TWEET this: http://clicktotweet.com/8S7aP

Still need a seat on a bus? Sign up here: http://bit.ly/10ZWl1W

Gas Industry Successfully Overturns Colorado Fracking Ban

Sat, 2013-05-25 14:00Farron Cousins

Gas Industry Successfully Overturns Colorado Fracking Ban

The townspeople in Fort Collins were greeted with some unfortunate news earlier this week, as their city council decided to overturn a ban on hydraulic fracturing that had been in place for only a few short months. The decision to overturn the ban was based solely on the threat of a lawsuit from the oil and gas industry.

The mere threat of a lawsuit from the only fracking company in town – Prospect Energy – was enough to send the city council cowering in submission, placing the entire town at risk of the negative health impacts associated with fracking.

The gas industry was aided in their efforts by Colorado’s Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper, who warned the town of Fort Collins that if the ban were to remain in place, they could face legal intervention from the state itself.

Hickenlooper’s announcement is less than surprising. He has received more than $45,000 from the energy industry during his campaigns, along with another $104,000 from the real estate industry (a sector that stands to gain a lot with the leasing of property to fracking.)

Prospect Energy was aided in their efforts by the industry front group Energy in Depth. After the ban was lifted, EID issued a press release saying the following:

The debate in Boulder County should focus on the facts, and the robust and responsible regulations that are already enforced by the state of Colorado, not reckless claims by ideologically motivated activist groups.

 

But the city council’s decision to allow the ban to expire only sped up the process for the dirty energy industry. The ban would have eventually been overturned by the court system in Colorado. At least two challenges to fracking bans have been brought before the Colorado Supreme Court, and in both instances, the Court sided with the dirty energy industry. This set the precedent for future challenges to be handled swiftly and soundly in the lower courts.

But this raises another important issue, and that is the importance of the American judiciary, the forgotten branch of government. While a few states actually elect their judges, most states (and the federal government) rely on appointments from governors and presidents. If a governor, like Hickenlooper, has received tens of thousands of dollars from the energy industry, it is fairly safe to assume that he’s going to appoint judges who the industry approves, regardless of their party affiliation. As the politician goes, so goes the court.

The town of Fort Collins needs to lawyer up themselves. The second that any toxic fracking fluids leak into their water supply, they need to file suit.

Unfortunately, given the reactionary nature of our country, we only address problems after they occur, but having a team of skilled environmental attorneys on hand will be a necessity for Fort Collins once the fracking begins.

http://www.desmogblog.com/node/7193