Welcome to my 600th post!! Of course, it must be a rant… where would I be without political commentary disguised as poetry?! Thank you, all my wonderful readers, for keeping me honest and challenging me on the more controversial topics, such as today’s… (drum roll, please, Riley)
Frickin’ Frackers
Relentless, those frackers are going for bear
Digging it deep to get what’s under there
Our potable water, environment, be damned!
Exhaust every option all over the land
Washington monument cracked at its top
Virginia’s first earthquake would not make them stop
Marcellus Shale bed on North P.A.’s border
extends to New York; Andy Cuomo’s no hoarder
He says, “Frack away and to hell with the facts*,”
although we all know methane leaks through the cracks
A Vietnam vet lives in Candor, near where
I grew up with sweet well water; clean, pristine air
This vet served his country and what does he get?
Tap water that lights up, burns like a gas jet
They’re siphoning water to sell back in bottles
I wonder which politic neck I should throttle:
The one who claimed fracking is “clean, natch’ral gas,”
Or our President Obama, for letting it pass
You cannot claim conscience and turn tail on truth:
No water, no farming; no milking. Our youth
inheriting worse that our parents gave us
We Facebook, petition; we Twitter and cuss
But no one will listen will Kochs are in charge
‘cuz they’re corporate energy – they’re livin’ large
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday, now on letter F; also for Trifecta, using their chosen definition of “exhaust” as a verb.
One of the lines below my email signature is, “Citizen For Potable Water and AGAINST Hydrofracturing.” This proved problematic for a time, when one of my nephews was working for a fracking company out West; it caused friction between me and a family member… but I didn’t really care about that. The big picture is not how much money a twenty-something is making (and it was the big bucks), it’s whether or not we will leave our grandkids and five generations past that ANY drinking water. At this rate, we’re losing ground.
* For more on the dangers of hydrofracturing for natural gas, see THIS LINK from Wilderness.org. Peace, Amy
Feb 20, 2013 @ 19:04:45
Well, yeah1 I must say I laughed when I read your narrative – friction over fracking. Frick frack. I’m tired – I’ll go now.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 19:11:13
I’m so glad this is getting more attention. Just finished a short story on this same issue which I’m hoping to publish soon.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 19:19:55
Love it! Frackers be fracked!
Feb 20, 2013 @ 19:56:04
Dreadful problem all over the world, what good is the big bucks, it can’t buy you that which no longer exists…drinking water.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 20:25:12
I’m with Kelly. I remember when nobody knew about fracking. It’s awesome to see it getting some airtime these days. Thanks for that.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 20:54:43
that’s how we say natural down here in Georgia
I love your passion. I love reading, here. Happy 600, Amy.
Feb 20, 2013 @ 21:08:41
tap water that lights up and burns…seriously we have got to be out of our minds…to think this is a good idea….dollar sign blind….ugh…nice rant ma’am…and congrats on 600…that is awesome…
Feb 20, 2013 @ 22:06:37
I like your rants (: We need more 600th posts from you lol
Feb 21, 2013 @ 01:52:59
Well Amy, for sure you know how close this topic is to my heart ~ good one ~ congrats on the 600
Feb 21, 2013 @ 03:25:05
Time will no doubt allow the Frickin’ Frackers escape judgement when the s**t hits the fan in a few years time. Some paper company that owns FA then will be held responsible and no redress will be possible. If it can happen in the US, Aus., and other developed nations how much worse will it be in the developing world where any benefits gained will not even be enjoyed by the countries and people being economically raped and ruined.
Feb 21, 2013 @ 03:27:54
I love a good rant!
Feb 21, 2013 @ 03:43:16
Interesting post, enjoyed it. We’ve started going through something similar in the north west of England.
Feb 21, 2013 @ 07:16:28
Amy, I love you:-) I’ve been petitioning, calling, sending letters, this is no fracking good!! But your poem, fricking awesome! Thank you!
Feb 21, 2013 @ 07:57:11
My god, woman, RANT AWAY!!!
Feb 21, 2013 @ 08:48:39
Frackingly good to read this one Amy:-)Wonderful poem with light hearted accents relaying such a grave message
Feb 21, 2013 @ 09:10:45
Seems like this is one of the big environmental questions of the moment; I’ll be interested to see where we end up with it. So much of our energy policy is complicated in so many ways.
Feb 21, 2013 @ 11:25:34
Sing it, kiddo – march to it! Corporate Rule just sucks donkeylips.
Feb 21, 2013 @ 15:55:08
That’s awesome, congratulations!
Fitness… Fashion… Family
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team
Feb 21, 2013 @ 16:52:39
Congrats on the 600th post! Wow! I’m not even at 100 yet. Wonderful rant – rant away. This subject needs all the attention it can get. I know someone who just sold out to the frackers. He’s now immensely wealthy, but he has to move as his land and his town (somewhere outside of San Antonio, Texas) is so polluted he can’t live there. But he’s rich and that’s all he cared about. Sad.
Feb 21, 2013 @ 22:05:04
Congrats on #600, Amy! Fracking scares me (as do a lot of things we do to mistreat our earth.) I see abandoned mines around here (gaping holes in the ground stripped of value) and fracking has the same effect – we’re still damaging the earth. I can’t help but wonder why “progress” feels more like “regress”.
Feb 21, 2013 @ 23:51:05
Its not good sense to disturb the earths crust. The impacts are too horrific. There are large areas where the ground water has become contaminated with arsenic. These areas were simply over exploited by drilling to many hand pumps ,,,, Fracking would have harsher impacts.
Feb 22, 2013 @ 13:48:26
Yay, you! Well done! Must be a day for a good rant. I finally found (and posted) that old poem I mentioned a while back — when you posted “Extra Extra!”. If you’re looking for another rant to read, drop in on this one (hope you enjoy!): http://wanponpopix.blogspot.com/2013/02/current-events-none-of-my-business.html
Feb 24, 2013 @ 07:41:00
Sharp Little Pencil, sharp as a tack; takes insight to see with farsight…