Advocacy Project: Letter to Elected Official

December 12th, 2011

Senator Herb Kohl
330 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
Dear Senator Herb Kohl,



VOTE YES S.1215: THE FRACTURING RESPONSIBILITY AND AWARENESS OF CHEMICALS ACT

     I am writing this letter to strongly urge you to vote yes on The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act. The longer that this act does not get passed, the more water, air and land is being contaminated. By supporting this bill and voting for this act to be passed, you will be a part of making our world a safer place to live. People should not have to worry about whether the water they are drinking is clean and free from chemicals; not passing this act makes them do just that. 


     According to Food and Water Watch, there have been over a thousand documented cases of water contamination near drilling sites around the country. Is the money that the gas and oil industries making really outweigh the price of an individual's health? Along with the fact that "fracking" is not being regulated enough and that contaminants are being leaked into drinking water, "fracking" requires an incredible amount of water in the process. This can cause local water resources to be depleted of water that is essential and more important for other uses than "fracking". Passing S. 1215 will allow more extensive regulation of "fracking" which in turn could save lives and prevent drinking water contamination, along with air and land damage. 

     The major opponents of this bill are the gas and oil industries. I do understand that passing S. 1215 will cost these industries and the government an extreme amount of money. However, it all comes down to what is the right thing to do. Is it right to jeopordize lives in an effort to make or save money? I think it is safe to say that no one would say that money is more important than life. 

     I appreciate you taking the time to read this letter. Once again, I strongly encourage you to consider passing S.1215: The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemical's Act. Voting yes to this act is the right and ethical decision. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at 888-888-8888. Thank you again for your time. 


Ruthanne

Share & Voice: Mother Nature Network

For this Share and Voice, I decided to find a cool website that has information about the environment, going green, etc. I asked my roomate what she thought, since I knew she is always finding great ways to learn online. She suggested mother nature network...seriously, such a cool site! I could have spend hours on here. One of the links I came across was one of the top ten stories of the day. It's called Houseplants That Clean The Air.

Peace Lily

What a neat concept! The article talks about how while houseplants provide beauty and add to the quality of a room, they can also provide a very practical purpose. I never had heard that houseplants can help make the air in a house better and more clean by removing pollutants. Pretty cool huh? This website provides a TON of great information...I highly suggest checking it out. Enjoy!

Advocacy Project: Fact Sheet

Facts About “Fracking” (Hydraulic Fracturing Process)

What is “fracking”??

• Fracking is used to extract natural gas buried in rock formations by injecting a fluid into the ground composed of sand, water and chemicals, some of which are toxic like benzene and toluene.
• This process is done by the gas and oil industry across the nation in order to efficiently obtain oil while making a profit.

So what about it?

• “Fracking” contains many chemicals that are harmful to humans and wildlife, and are linked to causing cancer.
• BUT, the gas and oil industry is the ONLY industry that is not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
• According to the EPA, 70 to 40 billion gallons of water are used to fracture 35,000 wells in the US each year. But, it takes around 200 truck trips to transport only a million gallons of water.
• Hydraulic fracturing is depleting fresh water supplies, impacting the habitat that lives there and jeopardizing air quality, just to name a few.

Pass the FRAC Act

• The gas and oil industry will regulate the fracturing process more efficiently- disclose their chemical ingredients but NOT their specific formula for “fracking”
• Drilling by the gas and oil industry won’t be stopped, just better regulated
• The gas and oil industry will abide by the Safe Drinking Act, just like everyone else does

Sources: 

http://www.texassharon.com/2009/09/14/hydraulic-fracture-frac-act-wont-have-death-panel-for-industry/

http://www.americanrivers.org/newsroom/blog/frac-act-re-introduced-in-congress-3-24-2011.html

 

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

I struggled a bit to come up with a topic for this photo essay blog! Since I'm back at home for a week, I wanted to do something here, but was having a hard time thinking up an idea. I really didn't think my family was all that environmentally friendly, so I decided to go on a little search to see what I'd find. I was pleasantly surprised! I would say that the topic of this photo essay is Ways to Be Environmentally Friendly. Cliche sounding I know, but, I feel like I was slightly narrow minded when it came to this topic. I tend to think of only the most common ways to be green, like recycling or not using plastic bags or water bottles, but it can be so much more than that if you open your eyes! So, here is what I found...enjoy :)

 

This is the apple orchard we have. Obviously, it doesn't look like much since it's the end of November, but instead of buying apples, we grow our own! My dad makes apple cider out of them and for Thanksgiving, I'll be making apple pie with them!

 

At my house, we heat with a wood stove. So, my dad goes out in our woods and uses the dead trees out there for firewood. Instead of buying wood, we use what we have on our land. 

 

Now, I know this just looks like a pile of cans. Which it is! But I didn't really think my family did a whole lot of recycling. While we don't recycle everything, we make an effort to recycle all the soda cans that we use. 

As I said before, we use a wood stove to heat out house. So, we don't just dump the ashes out, we reuse them. In the winter, our road can get icy, so we throw them on the road to prevent sliding around. It works great and is better than buying those toxic salts. 

This picture doesn't show a whole lot, but there's obviously no way I could get a picture of our well underground! We have an underground water well, so any water that we use comes from this. I think this is awesome, considering how much we've been talking about water in class. There are so many contaminants and chemicals in water that we are unaware of...I'm thankful that I don't need to worry about that when I'm at home! 

Mmmm salsa! One of my favorite things. The best part is that it's homemade, made with locally grown veggies and peppers. My dad has been making it for years and it is amazing! 

Now, this is for sure my least favorite picture but I thought I should include it still! It's frozen venison from the deer my dad just shot while bow hunting this past week. We had talked about in class how venison is so good for you since it doesn't contain any hormones or added junk. I thought it fit right in with this topic of being green and eating environmentally friendly. 

This is a picture of our garden. It doesn't look like much (same as the apple orchard) since it's the end of November. But this year for Thanksgiving we are using the potatoes from it to make mashed potatoes...so good! We also grow all sorts of other vegetables and herbs in it.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my photo essay blog. It actually turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. It's amazing the different ways that we can be environmentally friendly without even realizing it! 

* Photo credit Ruthanne Juza

Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Introduction:

The issue that this blog will focus on is the chemicals that are being mixed in with our drinking water and how the energy industry is opposed to allowing the public access to this information. The current legislation that has been proposed to address this is the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, (H.R. 2766),  also known as the FRAC Act.

Who is affected by the issue?

I believe that the people who are most affected by this issue are those that are consuming the water that is full of chemicals. Obviously, consuming chemicals unknowingly will cause harm, whether you realize it or not. It is unfair and wrong that people are drinking water that contains harmful toxins and they aren't even are of it. What is even worse is that industries that oppose making this knowledge public. As we all know, money is the major driving force behind this type of controversy.

So who loses in all of this and what exactly do they have to lose? Well, the people come first and what they could potentially lose is their health. Along with that, they are losing, in a way, their rights. We live in a country where people should have the right to know what is in their water, and the fact that we don't, is mind boggling to me. Obviously, the energy industry and drilling indrustry are also who would lose in all of this. People that live in areas where drilling is occuring could be consuming water that has chemicals in it, due to the hydraulic fracturing process. The energy industry plays a huge role in this as well, since they are the ones who would have to disclose the chemicals that they mix with the water and sand that they pump underground. Now, I know this all sounds a little confusing! But it's really pretty simple. Chemicals and toxins are being leached into drinking water through these processes of drilling and energy processes. If this act gets passed, the industries would be required to release whats known as trade secrets, their chemical information that is unknown to other industries. If the act would get passed, people would gain the information needed in order to better understand what they are putting in their bodies through their own drinking water. Perhaps, medical issues could be better understood and hopefully prevented.

What are the consequences of the issue?

The first and most important consequence of this issue is people's health. The consumption of chemicals is not healthy and can be detrimental to one's health. The people that are most affected by this issue are the ones that are unknowningly drinking water that may be contaminated and not good for them. ProPublica, which is an online journal, has published many reports that suggest that hydraulic fracturing could be the cause of water contamination in areas that have drilling operations happening. The EPA has not been able to conclude that fracturing is the cause of the water contamination, yet blames this lack of information of the fact that the 2006 Energy Policy Act does not require that hydraulic fracturing be a part of federal water laws. When I read this, I was really thrown for a loop. I don't understand how this can not be a part of federal water laws, when it is clear that the drilling industry is performing an operation that could be causing chemicals to be leached into invidiual's drinking water. It all seems a little twisted to me. Everyone is affected by this because everyone consumes water, one way or the other!

What is the economic impact of the issue?

The economic issues that surround this issue isn't too hard to understand. As I said before, money is the driving force behind so many issues in our society. The Independent Petroleum Association of America believes that states already do enough to regulate hydraulic fracturing. According to them, they believe that is would just be an additional and unecessary regulation. They would end up paying about $100,000 for this new regulation. Along with this, the Energy in Depth, a lobbying group, claims that the FRAC Act could potentially cause half of the Unities States oil wells and gas wells to be closed down. This is huge! Obviously, the gas and oil industries are the ones that would bear the brunt of the FRAC Act being passed. They would lose extreme amounts of money. The government would also sustain a major loss, since the oil and gas industry provide a huge amount of revenue. But, in the end, the economic benefits are not what is the most important. I understand that massive amounts of money will be lost and that it would cost money for this act to be put into place. But, if it saves lives and prevents people from consuming chemicals and toxins in their water, wouldn't it be worth it?

Social Impacts

 I struggled a little bit on how to answer this question. I don't feel that the social impacts play a very large role in this act. I believe that society would benefit from this act being passed, in the end. Yet, the fact that many people who work for the gas and oil industries could lose their jobs does cross my mind. This would certainly be a huge social impact for them and the families involved.

Barriers

The barriers are pretty easy to define. The gas and oil industries are the major and primary barriers when it comes to passing the FRAC Act. They are very opposed to passing this act, due the amount of money and jobs that would be lost. Another barrier would be the lack of information. This situation is one where the lack of knowledge is huge. I know that for myself, when I drink water, I never really stop and think what could potentially be in it? I think a way of overcoming this issue is spreading the word and getting people to understand the severity of it all. A way of overcoming the barriers with the industries could be to write letters and advocate for the cause.

Resources

The major resource needed is the money to pass the act. It would cost the industries more money to provide more intensive regulation of the chemicals and toxins that are being released when drilling operations are occurring. I'm not sure if this is even possible, but if there was a way that the government could provide the funding for the extra regulation, perhaps the industries would be more apt to let this act pass. On the other hand, the government will lose money due to the fact that many industries may have to be shut down. Money is the major resource behind this act and one that I'm not sure how it can be overcome.

History

There is not just one community that is being affected by this issue, due to the fact that drilling occurs in 31 states. The EPA has said that the hydraulic process is safe, yet water contamination has been found in more than a thousand places where drilling occurs. The FRAC was first introduced to congress in June 2009, was adjourned in January 2011, and was reintroduced in March 2011. So far, no decision has been made and the act is still in congress. Yet, there has been many court cases and lobbying that has occurred over this act.

Allies & Opponents

The people who would support this issue are those in charge of the act and also the people who are affected by the contaminants in the drinking water. The House bill was introduced by representives Diana Degette and Jared Polis, both Democrats from Colorado and Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat from New York. The Senate version of this bill was introduced by senators Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania and by Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York. These states are all involved in drilling. Now for the opposing side. The ones who would oppose this act being passed are the oil and energy industries and those that support them. 

Advocacy Efforts

There have already been many lobbying events and court cases surrounding this act. I believe that this will continue until the act is either passed or denied. I know that all would agree that those who lose their jobs would be affected dramatically if this act was passed. I think that this is certainly common ground and that its an issue that needs to addressed more in depth. I don't think there is a win-win for this situation. If the act is passed, a great deal of money and jobs will be lost. If the act isn't passed, then people will continue to drink water that is contaminated. It almost seems like a lose-lose to me. 

My Recommendation

I want policy makers to vote yes on the FRAC Act. In the beginning, when I first did my research, I was sure that yes was the right answer. I still am, but with a little hesitation. I didn't realize the negative impacts that this act would cause. But, I still feel that peoples health and well being come before any amount of money. I say yes to voting on the FRAC Act.

Share & Voice: 6 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bottles

As I was searching a website about plastic water bottles, I came across this awesome article on ways to reuse them. In this article there are six unique ways to reuse your plastic water bottles, so it doesn't wind up in a landfill somewhere. These are certainly ideas I never would have thought of! My favorite is the geometric lamp shade, which is featured above. Seriously, what a cool idea. They also had some other great ideas like making a coin purse out of a water bottle and a plastic vase. I really liked this article for the great ideas it had and also for the fact that they linked to wherever the information was coming from. This led me to the site greenupgrader.com. It's really cool and is all about finding creative ways to be green. Check it out!

Advocacy Project: Healthy People/THOMAS

Mmmmm clean water

Water Quality: EH-4.
Title: Increase the proportions of persons served by community water systems who receive a supply of drinking water that meets the regulations of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The overall goal of this act is: that 89% of persons served by community water systems received a supply of drinking water that meets the regulations of the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005.

Sponsor: Senator Dirk Kempthorne (introduced 10/12/95) Co-sponsors were 40

Latest major action: The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (H.R. 2766, S. 1215), dubbed the "FRAC Act," was introduced to both houses of the 111th Congress on June 9, 2009.


Recommendations: Vote yes for The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act

My political representives: Congressman Ron Johnson and Congressman Herb Kohl