Frick the freaking fracking!

“You have finally evolved into a progressive, liberal environmentalist.”--Kayak “Tree-hugger” Dude.

There are those times when I hate that guy.

Did you ever write and then publish an ersatz essay of sorts while under the influence of a semi-synthetic opioid, plenty of cheap domestic beers and two other prohibitively expensive pharmaceuticals designed to keep your bruised lung from filling with fluids?

I did.

Death of an S-10

Which leads me to this new law in Wilkes-Barre, the one by which police officers can pull you over and fine you for talking on your phone, texting on your asinine Internet-ready gizmo and, generally, being an inattentive ass while hurtling forward a 4,000-pound hunk of steel, graphite and plastic.

If you’re prepared to be honest, you will readily admit that you, yours and practically everyone else is driving while making love to their shiny, new hand-held device. And it really needs to stop. It really does.

Anyway, what I like most about this new piece of legislation is what it will mean for the interdiction of illegal narcotics.

There is no faster way of tamping down on the transport of illegal narcotics than giving police officers yet another reason to stop (and hopefully search) damn near every vehicle they happen across.

So, if you’re a doper, or a former vo-techer, you ought not use that cell phone of yours while navigating the length of my city.

Now let's make sure those new tazers of ours are fully-charged.

Love it, I do.

I’ve read the newspaper stories, I’ve listened to the callers on talk radio, and I’m really not grasping how the DER’s decision to bitch-slam Cabot Oil is somehow a great victory for the residents of NEPA.

You know, you people were warned. Some of us tried to warn y’all as far back as two years ago?


Frickin’ fracking? (7-26-2008)

Still though, the lands were leased, the wells were contaminated, and now, now…now, the powers that be are being reactive when they should have been thinking proactively more than two years ago. And for some, it’s too late. It’s too late for those who are now rightfully fearful of their water supplies. And fearful of what will become of the value of their biggest investments…their properties.

As far as I’m concerned, there was plenty of documented evidence from other states that proved without a doubt that the hydro-fracturing of bedrock with millions upon millions of gallons of carcinogen-laced water probably could and probably would lead to a disastrous end.

But still, the state allowed this well-documented threat to our water supplies to go forward. And now, it’s not going as was previously advertised. Actually, it’s gone quite badly to this point.

I really hate coming-off sounding like one of those “Tree-hugging NIMBY liberal obstructionist PINKO and EnviroNazis,” but with the enduring legacy of this area being what it is--trying to undo the unbelievable environmental damage of the now-defunct Anthracite Coal industry--you’d think both the residents of Northeastern Pennsylvania, as well as their glad-handing, self-serving politicians would have seen this one coming from a mile away.

Look, I like simplicity. I like to strip things down to their basic components.

And when someone from some out-of-state energy company says they are going to inject a billion gallons of carcinogen-laced chemicals into the ground under my home, within a thousand yards or so of my well-head, I’m thinking the dollar signs fluttering before my four eyes pale in comparison to the nightmare that would be having a seriously compromised water supply.

I can do without a helluva lot of things. But I can’t do without a safe water supply.

What were you people thinking?

Frickin’ fracking?

Yep, we really tried to warn y’all. It’s become all the rage of late for those hopelessly addicted to talk radio. But for some, for a select few, it’s become a continuing nightmare with no end in sight.
So, going forward, heed the words of those who have learned the hard way: Frick the freaking fracking already!

And with that, I’m off to sit with, gently stroke and read poetry to my favorite tree.

Later