Whether Coal Or Gas, No Responsibility.

       There were two articles in the paper today that interested me. The first is about the EPA. It found reason to shut down Fracking in a Texas town near Fort Worth, Texas, because of contamination to drinking wells. But then they reversed their stand when the company, Range Resources, got mad and said they wouldn't cooperate in a national study of the practice of Fracking.
       The second story is about a mine fire in the borough of Olyphant, Pennsylvania. The ground is on fire, but the Pennsylvania Dept of Environmental Protection has declared that it is safe and that no harm will come to anyone nearby or, presumably, far away. That, even though smoke can be seen rising from the ground. Coal veins underground are on fire.
       Pa. D.E.P. dug a trench around the effected area 3,200 feet long and up to 160 feet deep. Now they're just going to wait until it burns itself out of coal. This isn't new to NEPA, in fact the coal barons of yesteryear left many such burning mounds around the anthracite region. Most have finally burned themselves out after many years of smoldering.
       So why are these two stories related? In both cases the agencies of government assigned the task of keeping us safe and providing us with a healthy environment, are backing away from protecting us and providing us with a healthy environment.
       But what it smells like, is that the modern barons, the Natural Gas Barons, are going to be given a pass on problems they create. How come? Because big money is involved and with big money, you can buy almost anyone.