Early spring roundup- observe, preserve & promote

I've been busy with my fingers in many pies recently, so I haven't been up-to-date with my latest enviro-adventures, but I'll try to atone for this a bit. Here's what's been going on in my enviro-world:

1. I recently flew to Florida with my mother to check out some new wildlife areas, catch up with a few friends, and relax for four short days. This included kayaking the Indian River (Vero Beach) and checking out the first National Wildlife Refuge ever established, Pelican Island NWR (picture on left- my mother and me at Pelican Island NWR).

2. A robin build a nest in our bird feeder and then laid four blue eggs. My husband and I named her Roxy. She's pretty relaxed with us being just on the other side of the patio doors (even with them open), but she attacks any grackles who come to feed at the bird-food dish a few feet from her nest.

3. I collected some trash that was annoying me. It was along the woods/ wild-area near the apartments and some fast food places. I collected three shopping bags full before the sun went down and I decided to return another day. Shortly hereafter, my husband and I thought we saw someone exchanging drugs for money near a drainage pipe near the area I'd cleaned up, but come to find out, he was feeding stray cats. I'll take stray cats over drug-drops any day!

4. I've been keeping busy with some "consulting" for Mohican Advocates and Floraquest. Both of which I'm super excited about. I'm excited about the learning opportunities coming up with Floraquest and the educational advances Mohican Advocates has made. Along the lines of Mohican Advocates-- I recently read an article in the Lancaster Gazette about beginning public fracking meetings and I can't help but wonder if Lancaster has a fracking "resistance group" to help pave the environmental way and to coordinate with other "resistance groups" as seen in Mansfield, OH; Youngstown, OH; and Athens, OH.

5. Lastly, I spent last Saturday at the Shreve Migration Sensation. I attended some of the speakers-- Butterflies, "Bird of the Month," and "Sparrows". I got some great info, saw some water birds new to me (coots and ring-necked ducks). I also talked with numerous people about the opportunities to observe, preserve and promote with Mohican Advocates, Floraquest and the Greater Mohican Audubon Society.

I hope you're getting out to take advantage the unseasonably warm weather as well. There are lots of opportunities to do so in your area-- whether it's by visiting a bike trail, a state park, or if it means taking a walk down your street. Get out and enjoy!

Proactively Approaching the Fracking Debate

I've been swamped lately with "environmental representation" (my mother and I agree that the term "environmental activism" has become negatively associated with wackos) and with mentoring a student teacher at work. As I've been helping my student teacher along, I've found myself in numerous discussions with my colleagues about fracking and educating about fracking. Fracking has been a huge issue in two of my former hometowns (Athens, OH & Mansfield, OH), but it's been an issue across the country. In response to my brain grinding on the issue as I accumulate more info about fracking, I've been writing letters, signing petitions and editing petitions regarding anti-fracking and moratoria on fracking.

Here's the quick gist if you aren't familiar with what fracking is and what it does:

Fracking is a oil/gas drilling method that drills vertically into the ground and then the drill pieces shift to a horizontal drilling pattern, which enables the drillers to cover more area than the simple verticle plane. With this horizontal drilling, the drillers must then pump a medium into the caverns to force the oil/gas out. The current technique includes pumping water laced with lubricants (i.e. toxic chemicals) into the caverns and then the fracking fluid (water + lubricants) are removed and stored off-site.

I could write lots about how fracking works, as well as the detriments and the small amount of benefits of fracking, but instead, here are a few great resources to read about the topic because I can't begin to compare with their explanations and visuals. As well, simply getting on Google News and searching "fracking" will yield tons of great, legit resources as well.

Gasland Movie & Website dedicated to fracking education & activism.

Great visual explanation of fracking. Use Mozilla to look at this; it seems that Internet Explorer doesn't like it.

Issues of fracking trucks & the damage they create & Ohio's attempts at dealing with this damage.

Fracking's association with Earthquakes.

Other environmental issues associated with fracking.

It makes sense to become educated on the topic, even if you think it may not effect your area, because fracking can influence so many because of the air & water pollution that doesn't stay stationary. As well, the issues of the storage wells & where the fracking water comes from may also effect you and your town even though fracking may not be optimal in your area. So as you gather info, you may find yourself compelled to contact your congresspeople and/or actively campaign to educate those around you of the potential issues associated with fracking. In doing this, be prepared to write and write persuasively. This means KEEPING A LEVEL HEAD. Even though fracking may make you want to shake people to make them see how harmful it is and how greedy the corporations & some politicians may be, obviously this won't make your argument.

Instead, stick to the facts and only the fact that are well-documented and are coming from respectable resources. As well, quit re-iterating the same arguments everyone else has presented. Rather, present the topic with a very specific and visual representation. Pictures are tools of change. (With this, does anyone have ORIGINAL pictures of fracking & fracking effects they'd be willing to let me borrow for the blog? I'd be glad to give credit where it's due!) Tell anecdotes, use direct quotes and overall, be respectful. Nothing loses a battle faster than someone losing his or her cool. As well, make the writing or letter as straight to the point as possible. Offer solutions, even if the solutions aren't perfect, rather than just complaining. No one likes a whiner. Logic always wins, so be logical and find an engineer to review your letter and see if you can persuade her with what you've written. It's better to err on the side of too short rather than too long. With this said, here's a quick example of something I wrote & sent to my local paper recently (feel free to use the resources & reuse the letter as needed as long as it stays true to my sentiments--please just give me credit!).

Fellow Lancaster residents and city officials:

Two of my former homes, Mansfield, OH and Athens, OH are in gridlock over fracking. It made me wonder what Lancaster is doing to proactively protect itself. Mansfield coordinated an informational session that brought some major issues to my attention:

1. Ohio lacks laws to protect citizens from being taken advantage of when signing oil leases. Even if someone DOES have a good lawyer, there’s only so much this lawyer can do and it’s surprising how little it really is. There are some legislators beginning bills to protect towns’ rights and citizens’ rights, but these bills aren’t ready yet. (http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-36114-commissioners-call-for-tighter-state-regulations-on-fracking.html)

2. Fracking requires MILLIONS of gallons of water per frack. (http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Fracking-and-Water-A-New-Way-To-Profit-from-the-Industrys-Biggest-Problem.html) This means millions of gallons of water will be taken from the water table and our local lakes and streams for private profit. To save water, we encourage children to turn off the water while brushing their teeth, but then it’s ok for private companies to use millions of gallons of water for their own profit….? Why have WE been encouraged to take from the public and give to the private? Who benefits?

3. It’s no wonder that the state has reported few issues with fracking, because they directly benefit. Ohio “technically” has stronger EPA regulations than nearby states and supervises its own EPA rather than the federal government overseeing it. The same state government that openly supports fracking because of the financial benefit to the state by leasing our public lands (http://ohiodnr.com/tabid/23415/default.aspx) also oversees itself. Meanwhile, the Ohio EPA has had huge budget cuts. (http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/03/26/epa-to-make-do-with-less-money.html) By essentially castrating the EPA, the state has ensured itself that there won’t be any problems found with fracking because there’s no money to investigate.

It’s time to look at what’s best for our community knowing the state hasn’t protected our interests. It’s time to have a plan rather than be surprised like other cities in Ohio. Are we looking out for one another, or will individuals profit at the behest of the community? When will WE have sessions to publicly investigate fracking?


Sincerely,

Michelle S. Goodman