FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2016
Contact: Danielle Filson, [email protected], 646-335-0443
Pennsylvanians Against Fracking Responds to Fracking Report
The following is a statement from Karen Feridun, Founding Member of Pennsylvanians Against Fracking in response to a report out today from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century concluding that “a fracking ban would be a disaster for the U.S. economy.”
STATEMENT BY PAF FOUNDING MEMBER KAREN FERIDUN:
Job numbers and scientific data tell a completely different story from the one put forth today in the report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. According to the Pennsylvania Labor Department, drilling in the state has created a fraction of the jobs that the industry promised. In fact, nine of the ten counties with the highest unemployment rates in the state are drilling counties. The few jobs that have been created are largely temporary service jobs that go away when the out-of-state drillers leave, not the family sustaining jobs Pennsylvanians need. Fracking has not been the panacea it has been made out to be, and it is also posing severe health and environmental risks.
Most recently, the Pennsylvania Medical Society unanimously called for a moratorium on fracking, and a study from the Yale School of Public Health found specific fracking compounds to be tied to an increased risk of leukemia. There are countless other studies demonstrating a relationship between fracking and severe health problems, many of which use Pennsylvania residents as subjects due to the high volume of fracking taking place in the state. The negative effects of fracking far outweigh any benefits of the practice.
The report that claims to look at the effects of banning fracking fails to take into consideration all of the costs to impacted property owners and, ultimately, taxpayers that would be avoided. Pennsylvanians across the drilling region have suffered the economic blows of things like lost property value, illnesses, and water contamination. The localized economic impacts being felt today will extend to taxpayers everywhere as the enormous costs associated with remediation of the environment, maintenance of decommissioned wells, public health, and infrastructure repair become theirs to bear.
About Pennsylvanians Against Fracking
Pennsylvanians Against Fracking is a statewide coalition of organizations, institutions, and businesses calling for a halt to fracking in the Commonwealth. Steering Committee member organizations include Berks Gas Truth, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Food & Water Watch, Marcellus Outreach Butler, Marcellus Protest, Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and Air, and Thomas Merton Center. Learn more about Pennsylvanians Against Fracking atpaagainstfracking.org.
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