Stop fracking before it starts

[Donn Hewes]

Here are some great links to a petition and info on a farmers rally in Albany Next Wed. There are groups going from all over and a bus from Ithaca is being organized. The best time to stop fracking would be before it starts. Donn

Hello Farmers and Food Producers,

The DEC of is taking comments on proposed regulations if fracking were to be legalized in NYS and we want you to add your voice!
https://www.change.org/petitions/farmers-and-food-producers-against-fracking

Many are traveling to Albany on Wednesday January 9th (from 11 – 3) to rally against fracking. We will be reading and delivering the following proclamation. Please add your signature to the petition by following the above link and consider joining us in Albany!

Find info on bus shuttle from Ithaca (http://shaleshock.org/) or email sara.e.worden@gmail.com to get involved.

Thank you!
Farmers and Food Producers Against Fracking,
Ithaca, NY

PROCLAMATION TO BE DELIVERED at the NYS Rally Jan 9, 2013

We are farmers, bakers, vintners, millers, chefs, and food-makers of all kinds. Every day, we devote ourselves to the care of our communities. We are proud to nourish our neighbors and to bring life to our land. We have examined the evidence, and we are convinced that the exploitation of shale gas in New York will bring our communities to harm.

We are aware that those who will profit most from shale gas exploitation claim that it is safe, economically and environmentally sound, and a benefit to all. We are not convinced. Not remotely.

As farmers, we have seen the soils of New York abused and damaged on the bad advice of industry hucksters. We have seen our waterways befouled, our children too young on their deathbeds, and our communities fallen into unnecessary decline—all to boost the profits of distant industries and investors.

As makers of food and wine, we depend on the purity of our water and the vitality of our soils. These are our foundation, and without them our work is impossible. It is clear to us that shale gas exploitation puts our future at risk.

As chefs and restaurateurs, we bring the bounty of New York soils to our communities, nourishing them in the most intimate ways. The food that we produce becomes he bodies, the cells, and the blood of our neighbors; and so will the poisons produced by fracking.

We know that shale gas promoters promise big money for all. We have heard the easy claim that “fracking is perfectly safe, if done correctly.” But we are not children, and we are not easily swayed by nonsense.

We have seen evidence that when fracking comes to town, only a few benefit, and even they must count their gains in the short term. We have seen communities fracture, land values become skewed, and agriculture decline. We know, because we have seen it before, that safety regulations will be unevenly applied, and that mishaps and accidents, not to mention deliberate malfeasance, are inevitable.

Industry spokesmen like to claim that we who oppose them oppose the future. But they are wrong. Any society that survives only by destroying its most precious resources is not a healthy one. We have devoted our lives to the well-being of our land and our people; that, we believe, is a future worth having.

Let us speak plainly: Fracking will bring us no benefit, and only harm. It will put at risk the things we value most—clean water, healthy soils, and vital communities. It will cost us—in blood and treasure—more than we can afford.

We call on you, Governor Cuomo, and on the New York State Legislature, to support the health and well-being of all New Yorkers: ban fracking in New York State.

Sincerely,

Stefan Senders

Wide Awake Bakery
—
Melissa Madden
The Good Life Farm
4017 Hickok Rd.
Interlaken, NY 14847
(607) 351 3313
melissa@thegoodlifefarm.org
http://www.thegoodlifefarm.org

[dominiquer60]

Donn,

Thanks for posting about this topic. After visiting the Nordells this fall and seeing just the visual and nice pollution on a slow day, never mind the toxic chemicals, I wish fracking on no community. We don’t Need the fuel so bad that it is worth polluting our waters, soils, stock, and ourselves, plus it is all destined for the other side of the Pacific, it will never see a domestic use other than creating a few flash jobs.

I fought this as a NY Farm Bureau delegate and it is frustrating that a few noisemakers seem to quiet the fact that many farmers are indeed against such an industry.

Thanks for sharing an opportunity to voice my opinion from out of state.

Erika

[Tim Harrigan]

Oh, don’t worry. It is perfectly safe. 😡

Must feel like standing on a train track with a speeding train bearing down on you.

[Russel]

Shell is trying to start Fracking here in South Africa in one of the most sensitive semi desert ecosystems. They are meeting fierce resistance from the public. However government recently lifted a moratorium on fracking due to “further investigation of the environmental impact” or as I call it Bribes. I really hope they can stop doing this all over the world as from what Ive heard, it ruins the groundwater for hundreds of kilometers…

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