February 23, 2012

Watch: Your Town Is Fracked

Pennsylvania Republicans just blasted away local control over oil and gas drilling—potentially jeopardizing residential neighborhoods, watersheds, and even school zones.


Farmer Adron Dell'osa is packing his house onto a trailer and leaving Pennsylvania: James WestFarmer Adron Dell’Osa is packing his house onto a trailer and leaving Pennsylvania. James West

Pennsylvania’s fracking front lines have just been redrawn.

At first glance, the sweeping new law signed this month may seem a good deal for local communities. Over the next 15 years, the state is projected to rake in between $190,000 to $355,000 per gas well; 60 percent of that will go back to counties and municipalities, with the rest going to a state-managed fund for infrastructure projects. Proponents in the Republican-controlled Legislature insist that the law levels the playing field for industry, while rewarding counties.

But fracking can be a messy and dangerous business, and locals complain that the law takes control away from citizens who have battled hard for local decision-making.

Watch the video and you’ll see a tale of two Pennsylvanias: The first one, recognizable from Josh Fox’s documentary Gasland, is Susquehanna County, bordering New York state. It is dotted with wells—the result of minimal local zoning laws. The second Pennsylvania is Dallas Township, where disputes, protests, and citizen engagement have kept most fracking development at bay. For now.

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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