For Immediate Release
February 16, 2015
Contact:
Diane Sipe, Marcellus Outreach Butler, 724-272-4539
Sam Bernhardt, Food & Water Watch, 267-428-1903
Pittsburghers Rally Against Fracking at Governor’s Stop in Allegheny County
Community Members Ask Wolf to Protect More than Just the Delaware, Parks from Fracking
Monroeville, PA – Pittsburghers opposing fracking were on hand today at Governor Wolf’s stop in Monroeville today to call on the new Governor to protect people around the state with a statewide halt to fracking. The action came as Gov. Wolf tours the state with his “Schools That Teach Tour,” designed to promote his plan to tax dangerous fracking as a means of funding education.
Anti-fracking Marcellus Outreach Butler and Marcellus Protest, two groups based in southwest Pennsylvania, called on Gov. Wolf to bring the same cautious approach to their communities as he has displayed towards communities in other parts of the state, where he supports the continuance of a moratoria on fracking. Terri Supowitz, a member of Marcellus Protest, asked “Governor Wolf has said the Delaware River Basin is too valuable to be exposed to the risks of fracking. He has said our state lands are too valuable to be exposed to more fracking. Today, we ask, what about our communities here in Southwestern Pennsylvania?”
The rally comes as part of a statewide initiative by the coalition Pennsylvanians Against Fracking, of which Marcellus Outreach Butler and Marcellus Protest are members. Pennsylvanians Against Fracking organized a 250-person rally at Gov. Wolf’s inauguration, and has stated it plans to continue following Wolf around the state to show him Pennsylvanians want a halt to fracking.
The groups also responded directly to Gov. Wolf’s message of the day, stating that Wolf’s proposed extraction tax would only harm the state. “We need a quality education system in our state, but relying on a dangerous extraction process like fracking will do no good,” said Diane Sipe, of Marcellus Outreach Butler. “A tax on fracking would only exacerbate the harm being done to our community in Butler County, by encouraging more fracking to fill state coffers. We need to stop this destructive process now.”
Pennsylvanians Against Fracking is a statewide coalition of organizations, institutions, and businesses calling for a halt to fracking in the Commonwealth.
Learn more about Pennsylvanians Against Fracking at paagainstfracking.org.
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