As British Petroleum begins the process of silencing any criticism of the mess made by their reckless negligence I’ve been hearing about water pollution problems from DailyKos members that span the spectrum; our increasing desperation for gas, oil, and coal are liable to wreck the country’s groundwater for future generations.
I’d like to share what I’ve found and ask your assistance in stopping it.
Shale gas production is big in my district but only in the far northwest corner, namely Tarrant County, but the important point is the district is right next door and downstream from the Barnett shale. If they either accidentally or willfully wreck our aquifer the drilling company will be wiped out in bankruptcy but the harm will be permanent. Mother Nature cures ruined aquifers, but she does so in geological time frames; our descendants will curse us forever if we make the wrong choice here.
Kossack Texas Sharon resides in the midst of the Barnett shale and she provided me with a briefing ten days ago. This confirmed much of what I already knew, enlarged my understanding of the problem, and her well written blog is a resource I can share with voters when they have questions.
The oil industry’s problems ought to be front and center but with the temporary capping of the Deepwater Horizon well an exhausted nation is ready for something else. That this distraction is possible is a symptom of the failure of the mainstream media to engage in its role as the fourth estate. British Petroleum is moving forcefully to shut down free speech on Facebook and flooding the system with paid astroturfers.
The same sort of corruption is evident in how my opponent handles himself. I shared this article with @StrandedWind and he put a little finer point on it in Money For Nothing, Joe Barton Style. How does a man do nothing but sign some papers and ‘earn’ three times the median annual income in his district? If we don’t engage in some serious campaign finance reform we’ll continue the march from democracy to the world’s largest banana republic.
Coal’s big problem, beyond carbon dioxide, is the mercury emissions which A.Siegel covered yesterday in America Can Break Its Coal Addiction! Whispers of bigger water troubles have come from Kossack BrahminColorado - it beggars the imagination, but coal bed methane producers may be poisoning the entire Colorado river watershed, wrecking the drinking water for fourteen states. This needs to be inspected at once and if found to be true promptly regulated right out of existence.
Here’s a nightmare scenario for you: The Republicans take back the House in November, President Obama is buried under nonsense subpoenas, and Joe Barton returns to the lead of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. What do you think his first reaction will be upon learning of the impending destruction of the Colorado river watershed?
"What’s my cut?"
The Tea Party here isn’t happy with Barton - that peels away some votes. People in this district turn their noses up at Democrats ... until I mention that I’m a former marine. The nation’s anti-incumbent mood is underestimated - distraction only works so long when there is real, personal pain behind the wrath people are feeling. I’d like to tap into that and unseat Joe Barton, but I can’t do it alone.
The thing I need right now more than anything is a Facebook ad campaign. Facebook costs between $5 and $10 per day and it’s very easy to target district residents. Radio buys in rural Texas are very cheap - $500 is a princely sum for a small town radio station. If the reason you’ve got time to read and post here is that you’re out of work you can still be a huge help - comment here, share links to the diaries on my campaign via Facebook or Twitter, or write a blog post of your own.
My ActBlue page is right here.
Profile photo included for the sake of Facebook