Today I was looking for a picture to tweet on Twitter and I ran across this oldie but goodie sent to me by a reader in Johnson County. I posted it a long time ago.
The term “gasholes” came up in my deposition last Monday as it did in my hearing. (They hate that term.) I wish I could take credit for it, but I’m not that clever. There is a documentary by that name and a website and a Facebook page and a band and … it’s endless.
Interestingly the sign was made by a conservative Republican who was a “Drill, Baby Drill” kind of guy until he actually learned what that meant. He sent me emails with a tag line: “Don’t blame me. I voted for the hero and the hottie.” After he experienced drilling near him, he decided he liked solar and wind much better than constant trucks, noise, toxic fumes, flares and the gunk they sprayed on his neighbor’s field that ran off onto his.
That’s how the opposition grows–one frack at a time–and how I have become friends and found common ground with people from all different view points.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Yep, frack gas drillin doesn’t discriminate, it destroys all equally. All that live on the shale, that is.
The “hero and the hottie” are pro-drilling. Does he remember the Palin leading crowds in chanting “drill baby, drill”.
This again reiterates the point, we were not born activists, we did not just wake up one day and say hey, my life is boring, I think I’m going to take a stand against the natural gas producers. I’m going to spend hundreds of hours and years of my boring life to take a stand against their industry practices. We were backed into a corner, threatened, wire tapped,SLAPP suited, followed by private investigators, almost lost the full value of our “dream home” in the country built by our love, sweat, and two hands. Now we are being poisoned daily by an industry that answers to no one. There are so many on the shale who have changed their minds and regret signing their rights away. Once the operators act own those leases, they own it forever, your surface rights, hard work, and dreams only have meaning to you and the growing numbers who know the story first hand. The irony in my neighborhood is that most of the wells never produced, or were depleted too quickly and have now been plugged or shut in. All the hell we’ve been through and we’re left with land rendered useless except for agriculture, destroyed roads, a now decaying pipeline system, and operators who are walking away or flipping these leases to lesser known operators. My family will make our exit off the shale soon, but we leave behind the product of the love and hard work our entire family helped us achieve, all to be stolen from us. Sadly, our PaPa Charlie, and son Aaron are in Heaven and won’t be there to join us as we make one more attempt to find peace and serenity. All I want is to regain my health and find peace and a safe place to live the rest of my life and one day, raise my grand babies. God bless you all, and keep you safe. Don’t give up hope, there are so many who understand and are on your side. Sending love and hope to all my brothers and sisters who are living in this nightmare.