Just in case there's anybody out there who still thinks our federal government has a shred of integrity following the debt-ceiling debacle, news from the fracking front will quickly disabuse any remaining die-hards of that notion. Rather than exercising their power to stop the oil and gas industry from continuing its feast at the fracking trough, the feds have entered the fray on the side of their industrial "partner" – at the expense of citizens and the environment. According to an Aug. 2 Bloomberg report, the U.S. government plans to seek dismissal of a New York lawsuit that would require a comprehensive environmental review of the impact of fracking on the drinking water in New York State. As you've probably heard by now, hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," is the highly dubious process in which massive amounts of fluid – water, sand and a witch's brew of toxic chemicals – are injected into the ground under high pressure to extract natural gas from shale at a faster rate than conventional drilling methods. The toxic chemicals, including carcinogenic benzene, as well as natural occurring radioactive material, like radium, can make their way into rivers, aquifers and drinking-water wells. From Bloomberg: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ...
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