Bill McKibben: Shale Gas Outrage filled with “spirit and creativity and passion”
SUSAN PHILLIPS / STATEIMPACT PENNSYLVANIA
Maya van Rossum with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network speaks at “Shale Gas Outrage.”
Hundreds of protestors are rallying in the street outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center today. Organizers of “Shale Gas Outrage” say gas drilling is polluting water wells, the air, and destroying the pristine landscape of rural Pennsylvania. The event began with a song by gospel singer Rhetta Morgan. Later Maya van Rossum, from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network took the stage, telling the crowd that environmentalists like her are keeping up the pressure to ban gas drilling.
“Now the gas drillers, they want us to believe that drilling and fracking is inevitable and we should just sit back and take it,” said van Rossum. “Well we’re here today to say ‘No Fracking Way!’ We are taking action every single day to protect our communities from drilling and fracking whether that means keeping the drillers out or kicking them out if they’ve already gotten a foothold.”
Van Rossum is a vocal critic of gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin, where a moratorium on gas development continues. Author and climate change activist Bill McKibben said the growing grassroots movement is up against a lot of money and will have to do more than rally to make an impact.
SUSAN PHILLIPS / STATEIMPACT PENNSYLVANIA
Ray Lewis, a retired Philadelphia Police officer joins the fractivists to protest gas drilling.
“This is the richest industry in the world,” said McKibben. “We’re not going to match them dollar for dollar. We’re going to have to find alternative currencies to work in. It’s spirit and creativity and passion and you can hear it behind me. Civil disobedience I think is going to be the final answer to the absolute arrogant power of the fossil fuel industry.”
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The oil and gas industry is like a vicious wild animal. It simply is, what it is. The corrupt, and greedy politicians don’t have the courage or the integrity to control. Ultimately, it’s is going to be up to the people to stop this destructive invasion of the shale army. It’s time that we understand that there is not going to be any legislative control, regulatory protection, or effective legal recourse. We are beyond petitioning the politicians that have been bought and paid for by the industry’s lobbyists. It’s time to step up to the plate and seriously take to the streets. We can not undo the damage this industry has already caused, but we can, and must, stop this industry in it’s tracks to preserve and protect what is left. If you feel, as I do, that your family, your children, your home, and your way of life is worth fighting for, then it’s time to commit to doing just that. Fighting for your right, and your children’s right to exist. It’s time to fight for what is right! Thge time for lawful, non-violent, and massive demonstrations of civil disobedience is NOW! It’s “Fight, or Flight”. What other choice do we really have?