Want to Ban Fracking?

 - at least in Ventura County, maybe later in all of California?

Claire Wilson has a Petition for you -

Fracking is a toxic method of oil and gas extraction that involves blasting vast quantities of water and toxic chemicals deep underground--and it's endangering countless Californians' health, safety and livelihoods.

But Big Oil has plans to massively expand fracking in a huge section of the state -- roughly 1,750 square miles from Southern to Central California, from Modesto to San Diego County.

Claire Wilson started a campaign on CREDOMobilize.com, which allows activists to start their own petitions. The petition, which is to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, asks the following:

Fracking is an inherently dangerous threat to our air, water and health. Ban fracking now.

Tell the Ventura County Board of Supervisors: Ban fracking now.

Despite the clear risks posed to Californians by the oil industry's plans to frack our state, legislation that would have placed a moratorium on fracking died in the Assembly and Governor Brown appears eager to encourage the expansion of this toxic industry.

That's why we have to take matters into our own hands and ban fracking at the local level. Cities and counties in California have broad authority to ban fracking, and we should pressure our elected officials to step in where the state government has so far failed to act.

Local bans on fracking may also be one of the most effective strategies for winning change at the state level. If a wave of cities and counties in California reject fracking, it will put increased pressure on Governor Brown to ban fracking in all of California.

Will you join Claire and urge the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to ban fracking in Ventura County?

Thank you for your support.

Zack Malitz, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Fracking In Ventura County (CA)

Here's the latest from CFROG.  You may remember them from my commentary on the glorious democratic process in Ventura in May,  Fracking the Ojai Valley, Pts 1 and 2. (Scroll down the Blog to read them)

CFROG say:

"Citizens for Responsible Oil & Gas was born in May 2013 when a small oil company received routine permission to drill nearly a dozen new wells in the Upper Ojai without any review of possible problems that such an increase could bring. We appealed the approval to the Planning Commission. We lost. But we were able to attach Ventura County’s first “no fracking” provision to the CUP and stop the illegal use of an access road that the company had been misusing for 17 years."

I have to point out that I don't remember a “no fracking” provision" to the Conditional Use Permit, or a "ban on the illegal use of an access road" , but maybe I dozed off, like one of the Planning Commissioners. If CFROG would care to post a Comment, correcting me, I'd be happy.

If you live in the area, you should join CFROG.  Here's what CFROG membership entails:

(It's Papa Lennon's pizzeria in Meiner's Oaks)

CFROG's message continues:

"After that hearing we stepped back and looked at the big picture, and saw that one small oil lease as just one tentacle on a much larger, more troubling problem.  So we doubled down and expanded, reached out to friends and neighbors for startup money, and now we are ready for prime time and reaching out to you.

CFROG exists out of a deep concern about oil extraction techniques – including fracking and acidization – in use in Ventura County with almost no oversight and exempt from any meaningful environmental review. 

The California oil and gas industry (which also began in Upper Ojai) has been a part of Ventura County since the 1860s. And yet, amazingly, many of the regulations under which the industry operates have not changed since the days of the Wild West.

California is poised for a new oil boom as technology makes it possible to extract heavy crude oil reserves – like the Monterey Shale below Ventura County – that until now have been unreachable using traditional methods. The new methods are highly controversial - over 70% of Californians are against fracking in our State.

As we face a third year of drought, we must ask: does Ventura County have the water reserves for enhanced oil extraction? Is it a safe practice in an earthquake zone? Will our home values or tourism be negatively affected? How do we balance the 7400 jobs provided by the oil & gas industry with the 31,000 jobs supplied by agriculture? How do we maintain the quality of life we are so fortunate to enjoy?

CFROG believes that the citizens of Ventura County have a right to weigh in. 

We are a small, committed group of local residents coming together to act as a citizen watchdog to help monitor, report, litigate if necessary and educate the community on an issue that affects our drinking water, our jobs, the value of our homes and the water available to farms.

But we can’t do it alone. We need your help. Become a CFROGGER!

You can lead the way for a safe and thriving Ventura County by doing three simple things:

1. Visit our website  http://www.cfrog.org/   and click on the “Join Us” button at the top of the page. Becoming a CFROGGER will keep you in the loop about legislation, planned actions and events.  While you’re there, take a look around. There’s a lot of useful information for you."
   
   

Even the 1% Don't Like the Keystone XL Scam

This story was posted today at The Daily Kos.  I'm not entirely sure what to make of it....

"Unexpected environmental activism coming from the one percent: Billionaire investor Tom Steyer [founder of the hedge fund Farallon Capital Management LLC] said he is backing a four-part, $1 million advertising campaign aimed at convincing viewers the Keystone XL pipeline will hurt the economy and communities and should be blocked.

Here's his first ad:

As you'll see, Mr Billionaire doesn't seem to be concerned about the insanity of fracking for tarsands oil at all. He doesn't seem to worry about WHY oil should be transported by pipeline from Canada, all the way across the United States to the Gulf of Mexico, THEN refined, THEN shipped across the oceans to China and other markets. (Why not ship it from Vancouver?)

He doesn't even mention Pollution or Alternative Energy.

No, what bothers him, is that the energy dragged out of Alberta at such huge environmental cost (Fracking pollution is already proving a problem after the "Thousand-Year Storm" being experienced in Colorado right now.) will be used for the benefit of nations other than the USA.

There's more to this than meets the eye, Folks....

Obama Makes Us Sick

Has the guy ever made a stand on principle about anything?

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?"

Stephen Colbert's Fracking Party

Some of you tree-hugging hippies out there, opponents of America's next wonderful economic boondoggle - er, boom - have been whining about the 36,000 Fracking wells that have been drilled down into the amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesty of this beautiful land.

Needless to say, there's absolutely nothing for you to be concerned about.  As Stephen Colbert pointed out in last night's "Colbert Report", we're embarking on a Golden Age of Flammability. 

Watch it here....  http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/428641/august-15-2013/golden-age-of-flammability

As Stephen says, "We're trying to throw a fracking party here, and these people are ruining it with their suffering".

But have no fear, the Fossil Fuel Industry has hit on the solution to the public's Fear of the Frack - don't let us hear about it.

Let Monsieur Colbert 'splain yer - with last night's Word:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/428642/august-15-2013/the-word---gag-gift

Climate?  What Climate?

Smile and be happy.

Fracking the Ojai Valley, Pt 2

"We Don't Drill For Oil, We Drill For Money"

Your Humble Scribe spent the entire day yesterday at a hearing of the Ventura Planning Commission - and a depressing experience it was, too. (This is not a news report, just personal impressions.)

The good news is that the Press were there - the Ojai Valley News and a rising journalistic star, Kimberly Rivers, who has the cover article in the new issue of the Ventura Reporter. Kimberly's own Blog is here; she has a cool item about a County in New Mexico which is the first in the nation to ban fracking.

Did you know that if a concerned citizen wants to appeal a decision by our Planning Commission they have to pay a fee of  $2,000? An Upper Ojai Valley couple did that, and at the end of a gruelling day of talk, the Planning Director apologised to them for not having made the position clear.  A simple meeting could have cleared the issue up, but no - two grand, please!

It was a display of human nature at its worst, and not all on one side.

One Commissioner appeared to nod off several times during the hearing; he was the one who said the Commissioners could solve all their procedural questions with an immediate up-or-down vote - you could almost hear the unspoken, "so I can get home and forget this BS".

Speaking as a layman, it appeared to me that these elected officials didn't even have to say which way they voted - though an educated guess wasn't difficult to make.

The Oil Company, Mirada, whose Permit was being revisited didn't bother to show up - until about 7 hours into the proceedings, when their attorney did a ruthless, dishonest, ad hominem hatchet job on the poor people who were trying to protect themselves from being held responsible for the crimes of an Oil Company which drives its trucks through their land every day.  You could hear the jaws dropping!

The Planning official in charge of this Permit process - take a bow, Mr. Baca - has been about 20 years in the Oil Industry. You would be hearing the cries of "Conflict of Interest" all across the County - if it weren't that this kind of thing is considered normal in these departments....

The Oil Company has been breaching the terms of its Permit - driving its giant trucks up and down a narrow residential road - for 17 years.  Have they been punished?  Have they been fined? Have they had their permit revoked? Take a guess.

Their original Permit was granted in 1972, for a single well to be drilled. So when they come back in this brave new century, wanting to have 9 wells in operation, all they need do is ask for an extension. The knowledgeable Mr Baca explained that the 9 wells would be based on one platform, but would control a "spider's web" of lateral drilling under our beloved Upper Ojai Valley.

The oil company attorney promised there will be no fracking at the site.  So that's all right then.  No doubt the County's one inspector will be checking regularly.

Oh, did I mention that several of the approximately 70 concerned citizens who attended, stood up and pointed out serious inconsistencies in the staff's presentation?  Was anything done about it? Take another guess.

In the end, it seemed the only way this oil development might be subjected to any real scrutiny would be if the California Condors, a federally endangered species, triggered an Environmental Impact Report.  Not at this Commission, they won't.

A California Condor ponders his future

The Commission Chairman at the end of the exhausting proceedings, thanked everyone graciously for showing up, and for watching "Democracy in action". Oh, how true....

Yes, Mom, we are all crazy

Woke up early this morning, and looked at the Channel 5 News.

People in FIVE different US States are being warned to prepare for possibly devastating, extreme tornado weather. Global warming is definitely a liberal hoax.

The Powerhouse Fire is burning outside Los Angeles, sending a menacing glow high into the night sky. Firefighters are waiting to see what happens when the early-morning winds pick up, possibly picking up glowing embers and scattering them, who knows where? Global warming is definitely a liberal hoax.

And get this – a large proportion of LA's electricity supply comes through wires from the Central California Valley, passing straight through where the fire may burn. The DWP has been able to divert some of that power through different routes, but there is a chance that parts of the city may be left without power. We are making very slow progress towards the use of renewable energy, hampered at every turn by bureaucrats, legislators and Big Power Companies. Global warming is definitely a liberal hoax.

Fracking for oil and petroleum gas, and incidentally poisoning our air and water supply, is going on apace. Soon those people in LA won't need electric power: they'll be able to see by putting a match to the kitchen faucet. Global warming is definitely a liberal hoax.

On Link TV last night, there was a documentary about the Oil Boom, this time in Texas. The bright-eyed, articulate man who is in charge of enforcing regulations and deciding on who gets permits to drill and frack in the Lone Star Loony-Bin, spoke very well, even enthusiastically. The high price of fuel now means that it's profitable to open up all kinds of new (and old) wells. He said pretty soon, with the great new technologies we've developed (aka Fracking), we'll be producing enough oil and gas here at home, that we won't need to police the shipping lanes to protect our oil tankers, and we won't need to buy oil from (quote), “countries that wish us harm”.

No doubt there will be an enormous Peace Dividend for us all (see Ronald Reagan, greatest President ever known).

By the way - global warming is definitely a liberal hoax. Wonder who it was that informed us of the fact?

Fracking the Ojai Valley - a California Story

"Citizens For Responsible Oil and Gas (CFROG) was formed by a group of 20 west county residents, in response to what they deem has been a lack of environmental review by Ventura County, which recently approved nine new oil wells and two wells to be reopened in the area above Thomas Aquinas College in Upper Ojai." (Ojai Valley News)

CFROG are calling for as many people as possible to show up in support, when they present their Appeal to the County Planning Commission at 8.30 am in the Supervisors' Hearing Room at the Government Center on South Victoria Avenue, Ventura, California.

You can get full information from their site at http://www.cfrog.org/, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CFROGvc.

What is Fracking, Anyway?

Here's a cool Rap Video that will explain it. The title, appropriately, is "My Water's On Fire Tonight":



At the end of the video, you'll find a bunch of links to other videos, if you want more science.

I particularly liked "Fracking: the Dirty Truth in North Dakota".

The Curse of the Blogger

Hi folks!

Lots of ideas this week - the problem is where to start, and how to present it!  The main theme on my mind is Fracking - watch this space for the Geek's explanation of what it is, and much more on the political and environmental aspects.

Then there's Glamor - gorgeous pics up soon....

And the amazing situation of the Banks in Cyprus is unfolding daily - we'll see.

Unfortunately, The Curse of the Blogger has struck - in the form of the computer shutting down of its own volition, and leaving all the material I had collected, wandering around cyberspace.  Wouldn't you know it!?

Hopefully, it will all be retrieved and presented for your delight very shortly.

Stay tuned - back with more very soon!

The Frackers use Psy-Ops on the (Pennsylvania) People

In a [Conference] session entitled “Designing a Media Relations Strategy To Overcome Concerns Surrounding Hydraulic Fracturing,” Range Resources communications director Matt Pitzarella spoke about “overcoming stakeholder concerns” about the fracking process.

“We have several former psy ops folks that work for us at Range because they’re very comfortable in dealing with localized issues and local governments,” Pitzarella said. “Really all they do is spend most of their time helping folks develop local ordinances and things like that. But very much having that understanding of psy ops in the Army and in the Middle East has applied very helpfully here for us in Pennsylvania.”

(Another) presenter can be heard recommending that his colleagues download a copy of the Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual. That’s because, he said, the opposition facing the industry is an “insurgency.”

Read the full report, "Oil Executive Calls Anti-Fracking Movement an Insurgency, Applies Psy-Ops" here:  http://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/oil-executive-calls-anti-fracking-movement-an-insurgency-applies-psy-ops/

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For a detailed account of what Fracking is, and its effects, go here:  http://www.environmentnewyork.org/reports/nye/costs-fracking