"Firewater?" will be on the Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC from this Wednesday June 8 to this Friday June 10, 2011, at 4pm.
I want you to join me on a journey into the heart of our political discourse. It starts with a question that we've been wrestling with for the last year, as gas prices constrain our ability to live our lives. The question is about the most concrete alternative to gasoline out there: natural gas.
Is natural gas Satan or savior in our quest for energy independence? This is not just a technical question, it is a question that cuts to the very heart of what it means to be an American. We know that gasoline prices are sky-high, and that this is causing stress for anyone who needs to fill up their car; it's also helping to fund enormous geopolitical and environmental instability.
So we need alternatives, and natural gas is one of them. It's cheap, we have the technology, and most importantly, there's a lot of it in the US. But it's not costless, because getting it may mean irreversibly risking something even more precious -- our water supply. And now, wherever there is drilling, there's fierce political fighting. In Washington, the Department of Energy is convening a group to investigate whether it can be done safely. In New York, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is suing to force an environmental review of the practice.
I've been spending time with ardent natural gas proponent T. Boone Pickens, and anti-fracking activist and Oscar nominee Josh Fox, whose film Gasland caught a wave of public resentment. Both men frame their arguments as representing the highest ideal of patriotism. But the people in the farmlands of Pennsylvania, where the drills are, also have strong voices on the issue. So I went there, because I wanted to know if the cure for our oil dependency is worse than the disease, and I wanted to hear from residents, business owners, advocates and opponents.
It's not a simple situation. I found an economically depressed, revenue-seeking community in which some welcomed the jobs from fracking, while others argued their water supply had been contaminated and said "don't frack with me". I found schools there funded with natural gas dollars, and roads fixed and businesses revitalized because of the industry's presence. I also found people who were paying an enormous personal cost due to contamination and a natural gas industry that seemed in denial that any possible downsides were not already being mitigated.
More than anything, I came away sad that this beautiful community is now being torn apart by this issue and frustrated that our country continues to kick the can down the road when it comes to energy policy, regardless of the costs to our citizens, our soldiers and our planet.
Because this is ultimately a fight about who we are as a society. Can we come together and solve our problems without poisoning our children? How do we stop funding terrorism every time we fill up at the pump? And what kind of political system do we need to let us find the answers to these questions.
Tune in, starting today, at 4pm. It's a journey that all of us are on, and whether we like it or not, that we're all on, together.
Connect with Dylan
Catch more from Dylan at DylanRatigan.com
Follow Dylan Ratigan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DylanRatigan
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twdonovan
Here we go again. RT @Gawker: Inside the Huffington Post-AOL Civil War http://gaw.kr/iIuBJt
7 hours ago from TweetDeck
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mathewi
Gerry Levin compares AOL + Huffington Post to AOL + Time Warner -- not really a compliment: http://onforb.es/mvDQwl
14 hours ago from Flipboard
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NiemanLab
Good morning! Huffington Post has zoomed past the NYT in traffic. "Six years to disrupt 100 years." http://nie.mn/lRhVvG
14 hours ago from HootSuite
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| Techmeme CHART OF THE DAY: Huffington Post Traffic Zooms Past The New York Times (@jyarow / SAI) http://read.bi/mlcvbx http://techme.me/Be0w | ||
| twdonovan Lovely. RT @ckanal: RT @hblodget: CHART OF DAY: Huffington Post traffic zooms past the New York Times http://read.bi/jkIUx3 | ||
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ckanal
RT @hblodget: CHART OF DAY: Huffington Post traffic zooms past the New York Times http://read.bi/jkIUx3
1 day ago from web
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| ArthurDelaneyHP RT @hblodget: CHART OF DAY: Huffington Post traffic zooms past the New York Times http://read.bi/jkIUx3 | ||
| hblodget CHART OF DAY: Huffington Post traffic zooms past the New York Times http://read.bi/jkIUx3 | ||
| clusterstock CHART OF THE DAY: Huffington Post Traffic Zooms Past The New York Times by @jyarow http://read.bi/jgfRXL | ||
| alleyinsider CHART OF THE DAY: Huffington Post Traffic Zooms Past The New York Times by @jyarow http://read.bi/jgfRXL | ||
| businessinsider CHART OF THE DAY: Huffington Post Traffic Zooms Past The New York Times by @jyarow http://read.bi/jgfRXL | ||
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You should try to catch the 'interview
We have lots of gas and oil offshore and in Alaska we could have drilled for and didn’t so now its fracking. We deserve it for being to damn stupid to make decisions.
The only way to defend our land and way of life in each city, county, and state will be through citizens standing together in boycott or protest.
Gee i know what ur answer is gonna be -- T Boone Pickens
Cuz we all know Climate Change, Evolution, are Liberal Conspiraci
Flaming Faucets 4 EVERYONE !!!!!!
The biggest thing that plagues America right now in terms of energy dependence and pollution is this toxic sense of entitlemen
Americans lack the capacity for Long Term Thinking and Planning. But it doesn't have to be that way or remain an issue.
There are other sources of energy, and there are many ways in which we can and should be reducing our use of energy. A lot of the ways in which we spend energy are more along the lines of want rather than need. On the other hand, water is indisputab
Seriously, man. Debating whether natural gas or water is more important is like debating whether to spend your paycheck on lotto tickets or on food. If you can't see the right answer, you need to check yourself.
There will be wars fought over water in the near future and the fact we're allowing these greed-addi
Natural gas is very price- and green-comp
Natural gas has a growing role in our options for U.S. energy independen
It's people like you that don't tell the gullible that everything that's extracted from our soil and waters is on the spot market and global bidding dictates it's user.
When the multi national companies that are reaping the benefits and paying pittance in return are nationalis