PSA: Don't let Chesney happen to your city!

More here.

Gasland Part II: Free Advance Screening And Q&A With Director Josh Fox Tonight!

Facebook event page here

Tell the PA Senate: No immunity for frackers! (SB411)

Via PennEnvironment:

The Pennsylvania Senate could vote as soon as this afternoon to give drilling companies immunity – making it virtually impossible to hold them accountable to accidents and spills.

We all know the oil and gas industry has an atrocious record of spills and accidents in Pennsylvania -- granting them immunity for risky activity is the last thing we should do.

Join me in telling our state senators to vote NO to letting gas drilling companies off the hook from their accidents and pollution in our communities.

In a move that mixes the worst of Pennsylvania’s past pollution with its current one, Senate Bill 411 removes liability for gas drilling companies when they use contaminated water from abandoned coal mines.  

What could this mean?   

• When drilling companies have spills or accidents, it may be virtually impossible to hold them accountable.  

• If you own property adjacent to or downstream from one of these accidents, you couldn’t take actions to recover damages.   

• And the bill is so vague that it’s even unclear if enforcement agencies could hold fracking companies accountable under existing laws if they chose to violate them.

Click here to take action: http://bit.ly/NoImmunityForFrackers

Romney Vs. Sandy

Presidential Debate Overview

1. Romney kept his answers detail-free but full of lies. (He only got specific on his promise to off Big Bird.) From HuffPo:

Still, one issue continued to plague Romney: details. While he said he would end Obama programs, he was vague on how he would do so without eliminating a host of components he pledged to keep.  

"At some point, you have to ask, is he keeping all these plans to replace [programs] secret because they're too good?" Obama said. "Families are going benefit too much from them?"

But the “Lying for the Lord” was in full force. Here's David Gergen, former presidential advisor who served during the administrations of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton, so hardly a liberal:

  PoliticusUSA on Romney's five biggest lies (in just the first half of the debate) here.

And, from TPM: Top Romney Adviser: States Will Have To Cover People With Pre-Existing Conditions Under President Romney (so, yeah, he lied about that too).

2. For those wondering when Romney would swing to the center – shake that Etch A Sketch! – the answer was October 3, 2012:

Tonight’s debate saw the return of the Mitt Romney who ran for office in Massachusetts in 1994 and 2002. He was obsessive about portraying himself as a moderate, using every possible opening or ambiguity – and, when necessary, making them up – to shove his way to the center. Why he did not attempt to restore this pose earlier, I cannot say. Maybe he can only do it in debates. Or maybe conservatives had to reach a point of absolute desperation over his prospects before they would give him the ideological space. In any case, he dodged almost every point in the right wing canon in a way that seemed to catch Obama off-guard.

3. I still can't believe that Romney's 47% comment was absent from this debate. WTF? If Lehrer wouldn't bring it up, the President should have.

4. Also absent from this debate was any women's issues. We're used to seeing few to no women as candidates or moderators, but while we're in a War On Women, it would have been nice to have some mention made of the issues and not to have women only mentioned in random anecdotes. Romney did mention at least twice that doctors and people should decide on medical treatments and not the government – oh, the irony, it burns!

Also not mentioned: LGBT issues and the environment (except in a knock by Romney at green jobs). But of course, the deficit was covered ad nauseum because it's what's important to the Villagers.

5. While President Obama was far, far too passive, Romney played the bully. Apparently he thought he was the moderator and Lehrer didn't do much to disabuse him of this notion. If you watched any of this on CNN, you saw that women did not take kindly to uber privileged Romney running roughshod all over the debate. In fact, the male/female instant tracking graph running on CNN was a visual reminder of the vast gender gap throughout the evening.

6. And finally, speaking of CNN, their snap poll at the end of the debate – the one that showed Romney won the debate 69-25 – a diarist at Daily KOS finds something entirely astonishing:

According to the breakout, all the people surveyed are white, 50+, and from the South.

Additionally, it was top-heavy on men and those who were pro Mitt before the debate. So, totally fair and balanced, right?

Dear Mayor Luke Frackenstahl,

Via Pittsburgh BusinessTimes:

As the state Supreme Court considers arguments in favor of statewide zoning for Marcellus Shale exploration, Pittsburgh’s Mayor Luke Ravenstahl encouraged people to contact City Council and ask its members to overturn a citywide ban on fracking that sends the wrong message to industry, he said Monday.  

Ravenstahl, along with every other speaker, was extolling the opportunities of shale development at the Consumer Energy Alliance’s 2012 Pennsylvania Energy and Manufacturing Summit, when the topic came to Act 13.

Dear Mayor Luke Ravenenstahl,

You're wrong. The message sent by Pittsburgh City Council's ban on fracking in the city of Pittsburgh is exactly the right message:

WE DON'T WANT FRACKING IN THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH!

More's the pity that you simply don't want to hear that message.

Sincerely,
Pittsburghers Who Care About Our Environment

How hot is it?

With temperatures slated to shoot up again next week, how hot has it been?

According to federal climate scientists, the first half of this year has been Pittsburgh's warmest on record. Moreover, the National Climatic Data Center announced in their "State of the Climate” report:

The last 12-month period on the mainland United States, it notes, were the warmest on record. What’s notable, however, is that every single one of the last 13 months were in the top third for their historical distribution–i.e., April 2012 was in the top third for warmest Aprils, etc.

The odds of this being a random fluke -- and not due to climate change -- is about 1 in 100,000. Or as Jerry Meehl of the National Center for Atmospheric Research put it, “This is what global warming is like. And we’ll see more of this as we go into the future.”

Swell!

The Sky Is Pink

"The Sky Is Pink" is Josh Fox's short documentary follow-up to his "Gasland" film. Pittsburgh's very own Doug Shields provides the title.

Annotated documents featured in the film can be found here.

Speaking of clean water, the Clean Rivers Campaign is hosting a kickoff event tonight for green solutions to our sewage overflow problems:

Clean Rivers Campaign Kickoff Event
When: Thursday, June 28th at 7:00 p.m.

Where: International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 95. 300 Saline St., Pittsburgh, PA 15207 (map)
RSVP: http://action.sierraclub.org/CRCKickOff
Questions? Contact Rachel Martin, rachel.martin@sierraclub.org.
Event Poster: Here

(More info on that event can be found here.)

UPDATE: Meant to add this link: "House approves bill on drilling at state colleges" (because, what the hell, their kids probably go to private schools).

Pittsburgh City Council Approves Clean Air Act

Via press release from Councilman Peduto's office:

CLEAN AIR NOW
City Council Approves Clean Air Act
PITTSBURGH – Today, Pittsburgh City Council approved two pieces of legislation sponsored by Councilman William Peduto that will dramatically reduce harmful diesel emissions to improve air quality throughout the City. The first requires publicly subsidized developments to retrofit construction equipment with the best-available technology to limit their impact on the City’s air quality. The second puts in place a 10-year plan for the City to retrofit all of their diesel vehicles.

Pittsburgh ranks among the worst cities in the nation for short-term particulate matter and ozone pollution and for year-round particulate pollution. Clear linkages exist between these environmental pollutants and serious chronic health problems such as heart disease, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses.

It is estimated the 25% of the City’s diesel particulate pollution originates from diesel construction vehicles and the technology exists today to reduce this pollution by more than 85%.

The Clean Air Act was supported by a strong coalition of labor unions, environmental organizations, faith-based groups, and community organizations. The coalition stood together on the principle that Pittsburgh cannot compete for jobs, residents, and businesses unless we commit to environmental quality and sustainability.

“Today is a critical step forward in the City’s battle to improve air quality for all residents and visitors in the City of Pittsburgh,” said Councilman Peduto. “The passage of this bill, along with the prevailing wage legislation and Clean Water Act previously passed by City Council is part of a new policy of triple bottom line economic development that City Council supports. This policy recognizes that all development should have a positive economic, social, and environmental impact.”

This was a preliminary vote and it passed 8-0.

URGENT ACTION ITEM: New Battle of Blair Mountain

A group of miners display one of the bombs dropped on them
Via Wikipedia:

The Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the biggest civil uprisings in the United States history and the largest armed insurrection since the American Civil War. For five days in late August and early September 1921, in Logan County, West Virginia, between 10,000 and 15,000 coal miners confronted an army of police and strikebreakers backed by coal operators during a struggle by the miners to unionize the southwestern West Virginia coalfields. Their struggle ended only after approximately one million rounds were fired,[2] and the United States Army intervened by presidential order.

Now, mountain top removal mining is about to decimate the site of this historic battle. Hundreds of marchers -- including Pittsburgh Sierra Club's Randy Francisco -- are retracing the steps of the miners to stop Blair Mountain from "becoming just another barren, flat-topped strip mine." According to Friends of Blair Mountain, "The March on Blair Mountain is a unifying rally involving labor unions, environmental organizations, scholars, artists, and other citizens and groups."

In 1921, the miners were stopped by private planes that "were hired to drop homemade bombs on the miners" and by "Army bombers from Maryland were also used for aerial surveillance, a rare example of Air Power being used by the federal government against US citizens." In 2011, corporations and the government are still in cahoots, but their methods are more subtle (via Pink Coat Communications):

Local authorities, "encouraged" by mining companies, have routed the peaceful marchers out of their campgrounds. For their safety marchers now have to camp miles and miles away forcing organizers to shuttle folks back and forth. With gas at nearly $4 a gallon this could kill the march.

The marchers are in urgent need of your help to continue their efforts:

YOU CAN HELP! Donate to the marchers at http://marchonblairmountain.org/ (click on the Appalachia rising paypal button) or at directly at Appalachia Rising's paypal site

They only need about $1500 to complete the march, but without it, their effort cannot continue safely! They are in and out of cell phone range and only sporadically able to post information so this has not hit the press yet. Its important that we help them now though as they are in imminent danger of being forced to quit.

UPDATE: Latest update @ The Pittsburgh Seam

Our air sucks!

Via the Post-Gazette:

Air quality in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area continues to rank among the worst in the nation, despite steady improvements in soot and smog levels.

Other regions throughout the nation are improving air quality at a faster pace.

In the American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2011" report released Tuesday, the Pittsburgh area ranked as the nation's third most polluted area for short-term particle pollution for the second year in a row. It ranked behind only the Bakersfield-Delano and Fresno-Madera areas of California.

Allegheny County received an an "F" for both particle and ozone pollution.
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Gov. Corbett: Favoring natural gas severance tax is "un-American"

According to Scott Detrow -- who covers state government and politics for Pennsylvania's public radio stations, including WITF in Harrisburg, WHYY in Philadelphia and WDUQ in Pittsburgh -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett called the concept of a natural gas severance tax "un-American." (Even though that's what they do in every other state.)

This would be in a speech he made before the State Association of Township Supervisors yesterday. And, the tax he would be so opposed to would be on those who come to PA to extract gas from the Marcellus Shale via fracking -- a process which aside from producing mini-earthquakes -- creates millions of gallons of contaminated water. We aren't allowed to know exactly what chemicals are contained in that water as the Bush/Cheney Energy Bill exempted natural gas drilling from the Safe Drinking Water Act. And, we found out confirmation this weekend via the New York Times that:

Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats.

Hmm, now that sounds "un-American."

What also sounds "un-American" is Corbett's appointment of C. Alan Walker, "a coal industry cited numerous times for polluting streams and drinking water" to acting secretary for the state's Department of Community and Economic Development and to the state's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission. Most importantly, Corbett "gave him authority to expedite and influence permits at any state agency, including the Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates drilling in the Marcellus Shale."

Hmm, having the fox guard the hen house. That used to be considered "un-American."

Keystone Progress has a petition that you can sign to let Corbett know what exactly you consider to be "un-American."
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Rallies and Protests and Press Conferences, Oh My!

Looks like folks are awakening to the assault on, well, everyone (who isn't super rich)! Women, children, union members, the middle class, the working class and the working poor, public transit riders -- unless you're Donald Trump -- the Republicans have some plan to screw you.

We're not "special interests" when we are the majority!

Please attend any of these that you can:

THURSDAY, 2/24/11
Impacts of Proposed U.S. Budget Cuts on Pittsburgh Jobs & Families Press Conference (This is for the media)
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: WGF Office, Landmarks Building, 100 W. Station Square Drive, Suite 315
WHAT: Via press release [edited]: "Women and Girls Foundation hosts. Southwest PA organizations, their local workers and service recipients, would be directly impacted by the drastic cuts included in H.R. 1 which slashes billions of dollars of funding resulting in the elimination of millions of jobs and services for working families in our region. Federal programs impacted range from early childhood education and college financial aid to nutritional assistance for infants, veterans housing, public broadcasting, and reproductive healthcare. It eliminates federal funding for Planned Parenthood and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and it defunds the implementation of health care reform and EPA pollution enforcement. It now moves to the Senate for vote later this month. Representatives from the following organizations will speak: Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, Fair Housing Partnership, Just Harvest, WQED Multimedia, Women’s Center & Shelter, PennFuture, Planned Parenthood, Adagio Health, The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Community Services, Action United, ACLU Pittsburgh, SEIU, Women’s Law Project, New Voices Pittsburgh, National Council of Jewish Women, National Organization for Women, Pennsylvania Health Access Network, and Health Care for America Now. (Members of the media are asked to RSVP if you plan to attend.)"

MoveOn / Democracy for Pittsburgh: Invest in America!
TIME: 11:30 AM;11:45 AM
WHERE: Gather @ Aldo Coffee Shop, 675 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), PA 15228; Proceed to Office of Rep. Murphy, which is at 504 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), Pa 15228
WHAT: "We are going to go to Rep. Murphy and let him know that cutting billions from funding health care, education, and science will do nothing to turn our economy around, but it will hurt the other 98% of us that are barely getting through the worst recession since the Great Depression. We will go to the office of Rep. Murphy with our Invest in America message, and share our personal stories of why we need support for our broken economy and communities." Please RSVP for the event by clicking on the link below: http://pol.moveon.org/event/invest2011/112639

“Fighting For the American Dream” Rally
Stand in Solidarity with the Wisconsin Workers
TIME: Noon (lunch provided)
WHERE: USW International HQ, Downtown Pittsburgh, 5 Gateway Center, 60 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: "Our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and other states are in a fight for the very survival of their jobs and their union. This is our moment to stand and show solidarity with them and let their Governor and the extremist organizations financing these attacks know: WE STAND TOGETHER! "


FRIDAY, 2/25/11
People's Rally For Public Transportation
TIME: 8:30 - 11:30 AM
WHERE: Mellon Square Park, 6th & Smithfiled, Downtown Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: Protest the drastic cutbacks in public transit.


SATURDAY, 2/26/11
Rally to Save the American Dream, Harrisburg, PA
TIME: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
WHERE: Capitol Steps, 3rd St., Harrisburg, PA 17101
WHAT: "Americans who believe in the right to organize are standing up on Saturday. It's time to stop the dismantling of organizations opposed to the right wing agenda."
RSVP: http://www.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=112822&is_manage=1

Feed the Trees

Preserving Pittsburgh’s Trees:
Action and Recovery
Thursday, February 17, 2011, 6:30 – 8:00pm
Frick Fine Arts Building
University of Pittsburgh Campus
(Across from Schenley Plaza)

More here.
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When Palin wrote crib notes on her hand she was only trying to be green!

Apparently, when Sarah Palin wrote crib notes on her hand in ink for the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville back in February she was only trying to be green.

From Sunday's episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" (via HuffPo via Politico -- video at link):

"Conservationists write me these nasty letters because I support an industry like this," the former vice presidential candidate said, after taking a chainsaw to an Evergreen Timber tree. "They write me these nasty letters using their pretty little pencils on their pretty little stationary not realizing. Where do you think your pencil and your piece of paper came from, people? It came from a tree that was harvested."

The P-G's "Mapping mortality" Series: A must read!

Hopefully, you're all reading the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's "Mapping mortality" series. It explores how our region's high level of industrialization and reliance on burning coal coupled with our geography has led to higher than normal levels of cancer and heart and respiratory problems than one would expect to see (yes, it factors in this areas higher level of cigarette smoking).

You can find an index of this week's article, photos and videos here.

You can see how they actually mapped out incidence of disease vs. locations of refineries/plants/etc. here.

It's literally a matter of life and death.

Want to help?



Here's PennFuture's Breathe Easy, Stay Healthy campaign.

Here's the Sierra Club's petition to stop the Wellington coal plant.
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In the dark

When a neighborhood in San Bruno, California was decimated by a giant fireball from an exploding natural gas pipeline last month, you probably assumed that the company which operated the pipeline had a plan for such emergencies (correct) and that the plan was open for review by local government officials and first responders, industry watchdogs and the public (wrong).

Apparently, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) doesn't require these companies to provide them with copies of these plans so no one can request to see the plans under any sort of sunshine laws -- including the city, county and state governments wherein the pipelines reside.

The PHMSA merely visit the plans at the offices of these companies.

Isn't that special?
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Rendell calls PA Homeland Security "absolutely ludicrous" for tracking Marcellus Shale protests

Via CNN:

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says he is appalled that the state's Office of Homeland Security, unbeknownst to him, had been compiling and circulating information about protesters at peaceful gatherings.

Banging his fist on the podium Tuesday evening, a visibly angry Rendell called the practice "absolutely ludicrous."

"Let me make this as clear as I can make it. Protesting against an idea, a principle, a process, is not a real threat against infrastructure," he said at a news conference. "Protesting is a God-given American right, a right that is in our Constitution, a right that is fundamental to all we believe in as Americans."

A WTAE News report here includes video of Governor Ed Rendell apologizing for "what he calls the $125,000 waste of taxpayer dollars, spent to investigate the so-called alert."

And, it wasn't just Marcellus Shale protests which were put on the official bulletin to law enforcement from Pennsylvania Homeland Security:

Among the rallies that were mentioned in the lists were a candle light vigil against the oil company BP, a gay pride festival and protests against natural gas drilling.

"I apologize to the Marcellus Shale protesters. I apologize to the taxpayers protesters. I apologize to the lesbian and gay Pride Festival. I apologize to every single name that was on the list," Rendell said.

Another event whose protesters made the list was a rally in support of higher spending on public schools.

"Supporting my education bill? That was on the list," he said incredulously.

Ah yes, this is what happens when you give these clowns free reign -- everyone becomes suspect.

But, back to Marcellus Shale...

As far back as August 27th, there was a comment on this very blog by Gloria Forouzan of Lawrenceville Marcellus Action Group warning about Homeland Security's interest in those who oppose Marcellus Shale drilling:

This morning I rec'd notice that Homeland Security's been watching anti Marcellus chatter on the internet all summer long...

What a great use of our tax dollars.

And on September 9th, the Philadelphia City Paper posted an email authored by Pennsylvania Homeland Security chief James Powers which in part stated:

“We want to continue providing this support to the Marcellus Shale Formation natural gas stakeholders while not feeding those groups fomenting dissent against those same companies.”

The email was mistakenly sent to someone who participated in anti-drilling forums.

That same day, the Pittsburgh City Paper also posted a story at Chris Potter's Slag Heap blog about the Homeland Security "intelligence bulletin."

The origin for the bulletin story was a piece at ProPublica on September 8th:

Anti-drilling activists in the state say that public hearings and other events have been peaceful and that they see no evidence of violent opposition. Given the lack of evidence about "extremist" crimes, they say, the bulletin casts drilling opponents as criminals and threatens to stifle open debate.

"It may very well be designed to chill peoples' very legitimate participation in public decision making," said Deborah Goldberg, an attorney with Earthjustice, a national group pressing for stronger environmental protections [3]. "If people who have concerns fear that they are going to be treated as a security threat they may very well be afraid to go and express their views."

The advisory lists a series of public hearings on drilling permit issues across the state as potential flash points. It also mentions a Sept. 3 screening of the anti-drilling film "Gasland" in Philadelphia that went off without incident. Language describes "environmental activists and militants" on one side of the debate and "property owners, mining and drilling companies" on the other.

Finally, the bulletin groups the public hearings and film screening with protest rallies for anarchist clubs focused on "evading law enforcement," and with a Muslim advocacy group's rally for the release of suspects in an alleged terror plot at Fort Dix, N.J.

The advisory was sent to state law enforcement and local government groups, as well as businesses with a specific concern addressed in the bulletin. It was not intended to be distributed to the public.

What other events were listed as needing observation? According to Chris Potter:

These include such radical gatherings as a Pittsburgh City Council hearing on drilling slated for Sept. 13, and a zoning hearing in Upper St. Clair scheduled for Oct. 4.

Participating in democracy -- what a radical notion!

Here's a video from Monday's dangerous, dangerous protest:



Obviously peacefully protesting out in full view on the very steps of City Hall and speaking at a public hearing constitutes crazy, militant terror activity.

If you too desire to be among dangerous "environmental extremists" terrorist types, you might want to take militant action by joining the MarcellusProtest Facebook page (so very subversive to put their activities there) or visit the Marcellus Shale Protest website (because plotting in secret is so 9/10).

UPDATE: Here's a thought: How frightening is it that the Pennsylvania Homeland Security chief mistakenly sent that email to "the other side." If they really believe that environmentalists are such security threats, wouldn't this be (in his mind) the equivalent of, oh say, cc'ing an al qaeda sympathizer on an email detailing how they're secretly tracking al qaeda events? What a putz!

UPDATE: 2: Bob Mayo also did a story on the intelligence bulletin on September 9th on WTAE.

You can see the intelligence bulletin on Pro Publica's site here.

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Pack the Room!

Via Randy Francisco (Beyond Coal Campaign, Sierra Club):

The EPA is holding a public hearing in Pittsburgh on its plan to create new standards to protect our health from toxic coal ash, the carcinogenic byproduct containing mercury, arsenic, and lead, that is produced when coal is burned to produce electricity.

But Dirty Coal is pulling out all the stops to weaken the EPA's proposal -- claiming that this toxic coal waste should be regulated the same way as household trash.

Help us pack the room at the EPA hearing in Pittsburgh to show them that Americans demand strong standards to protect communities from toxic coal ash.

Here are the details:

DATE: Tuesday, September 21st
TIME: Morning session from 10am to 12pm, afternoon session from 1pm to 5pm, evening session from 6:30pm to 9pm or later.
WHERE: Omni Hotel, 530 William Penn Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219 (map).
CONTACT: Randy Francisco at randy.francisco@sierraclub.org or (412) 802-6161 with any questions, or if you are looking for a carpool, a bus, or can't make it but still want to get involved.
RSVP: http://action.sierraclub.org/coalash_pittsburgh

1,435 violations by Marcellus Shale drilling companies

Via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

A new report by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association said the state has identified 1,435 violations by 43 Marcellus Shale drilling companies since January 2008, prompting environmental groups to call for quick legislative action to protect water and land resources.

According to Monday's report, 952 of the violations were identified as having or likely to have an impact on the environment. Those included 100 violations of the state Clean Stream Law, 268 for improper construction of waste water impoundments; 277 for poor erosion and sedimentation plans during well pad, road and piping construction; 16 for improper blowout prevention; and 154 for discharging industrial waste, including drilling waste water containing toxic chemicals, onto the ground or into streams.

[snip]

The report is based on state Department of Environmental Protection enforcement records obtained through a Right to Know Request filed by the association. The records do not include violations of drilling wastewater haulers: 669 traffic violations and 818 warnings during a three-day enforcement blitz in June.

669 violations in just three days?!!

In related news, US Senate candidate Rep. Joe Sestak has called on the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a study on the impact of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water.
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