On Syria - "If you use chemical weapons on your own people, you'll be crossing a red line"
"Oh, you crossed a red line? Well, er, we're gravely concerned"
On the Egyptian military, whose country receives $1.5 billion total per year from us, $1.3 billion going to the military, which presumably means pouring profits into the coffers of our obscene Arms Industry - "This money is our leverage over the Egyptian Army.... but if we actually do anything, then we won't have any leverage" (even though US Law requires him to cut off military aid from a country which suffers a military coup.)
And now on Fracking - this just in from the Sierra Club:
"President Obama is making a dangerous mistake. He's doubling down on dirty natural gas without hearing from the folks affected by it, like Rick Roles of Garfield County, Colorado.1
If he talked to Rick, he'd hear a courageous man, whose eyes well with tears and voice trembles with frustration as he shares his experience:
Beginning in 1994, over 100 toxic natural gas wells were drilled within a mile of Rick's beloved home. Once a robust cowboy, he now wakes some days too sick to even feed himself. And time and again he has been forced to watch helplessly as his pride and joy -- his goats and horses -- succumb to horrific tumors and birth defects.2
Rick won't give up -- he's joining the fight and sharing his story about the terrible impacts of natural gas. But he can't do it alone; will you stand with Rick?
One click will automatically add your name to the petition telling President Obama that natural gas is a danger for our communities. It's not the answer to our nation's energy needs!
Sadly, Rick's story isn't unique -- it's happening all over the country as an unregulated natural gas industry runs amok.
Nearly half a million natural gas wells can be found from Pennsylvania to California.3 Companies pump a mostly unknown cocktail of toxic chemicals into the ground to unleash the natural gas locked below -- all the while poisoning the air and water and turning local communities into industrial zones.4
In 2009, this all too familiar process began near Beth Voyles' home in southwestern Pennsylvania. Soon after, her family began to suffer the effects -- unexplained rashes, aches and pains, and blisters in their noses and throats. As Beth said, "You feel like you're drugged because your brain's not thinking. We want our life back."5
Last month, President Obama spoke about his plans to tackle climate change. But the president's plan includes an increased reliance on natural gas, which releases methane pollution that is 72 to 105 times more potent than carbon dioxide.6 So not only does natural gas put our communities at risk but it's also helping to heat up our planet.
If President Obama is serious about tackling climate change, he needs to reverse course on dangerous natural gas! We need to be too loud for the president to ignore.
That's why the Sierra Club is launching SierraRise, a new, online community working for progress and sustainability. We'll reach new audiences and build a bigger and more powerful movement than ever before. That means sharing heartfelt stories and inspiring pictures with our friends and family and flooding the inboxes of public officials and corporations with powerful personal messages.
Will you take a moment to sign the petition and automatically join the SierraRise community, by urging President Obama to protect our communities and climate from natural gas?"
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