Dear President Obama Page #6

In-in many many places.

against its,

against the citizens.

In many cases against

the people who voted for them.

What is a more

fundamental American right

than to feel safe

in your own home?

And people are,

are prepared to fight for that.

Like, people are

fighting for their homes.

And for-for

ordinary American citizens

their home

is their biggest asset.

And home values

across the country

are being devastated

by fracking events.

[instrumental music]

(Nanner)

We moved to Colorado, because

it's such a beautiful state.

And a very healthy state

a very healthy place to live.

At least that's what we thought

until the last couple years

when the fracking

pretty much started

taking over our lives.

Since we've lived here

the fracking has grown

exponentially.

And our health concerns

are growing with that.

We have a neighbor

whose well water is undrinkable.

Uh, but nobody seems to wanna

associate these fracking wells

with all of these conditions.

I'm a realtor,

I've been a realtor

in this area for 23 years.

I have sold, uh..

I can't even begin

to tell you how many homes.

They all say where's,

where's the fracking?

Can you show me a fracking map?

And when I show them

the fracking map

uh, there's a well close to

pretty much every,

all the rural properties.

Nobody wants to move out

to the county anymore.

(Mark)

Many in the US claim

we're living in

an over-regulated society.

When it comes

to environmental laws

we have lots of good ones.

But far too often

they are ignored

or circumvented.

When I investigate a-a potential

public health problem

let's say,

a plastics factory has blown up

near my hometown,

that's a true story.

The first place

I would go is, um

the toxics

release inventory to see

what kind of emissions this, um

uh, facility is putting out.

Um, I would also

take a look at, you know

accident reports and,

and so forth.

Um, that's not available

to-to us who are

um, doing the research on

the health impacts

of fracking because

uh, federal exemptions

to various key provisions

of our, uh, environmental laws.

Making science

half operate with one

hand tied behind its back.

This is not how we

do things.

(Pickens)

We are more fragile today

from a

national security standpoint

than we have been

since World War II.

The dangerous stems

for our overwhelming 700 billion

dollar dependency

on foreign oil annually.

(Mark)

The oil and gas industry

in the US

and the politicians they

support with campaign dollars

has itself shaped the laws

intended to regulate it.

Beginning with exemptions

from parts

of the very first

federal environmental laws

including the Clean Air

and Water Acts adopted in 1970.

Among many breaks

the Bush administration

would grant their friends

in the oil and gas business

was a tinkering in rules

at the Securities

and Exchange Commission

which allowed the industry

with no oversight

to go to banks for financing

with exaggerated estimates

of how much gas and oil

was below the ground.

Due to the change

in regulatory language

the companies

were able to exaggerate

their proven reserves

by up to 400%

take on enormous debts

and fool politicians and

the public with false promises

of a shale gas revolution.

With every passing day

the evidence

has been catching my attention.

I have no doubt,

none at all

that we are in the midst

of a global warming.

Or as

I prefer to call it Spring.

[audience laughing]

(Mark)

The so called

Halliburton Loophole

named for Dick Cheney

who ran the giant oil company

that developed fracking

technology before he became

Vice President

is a prime example.

Just a few sentences slipped

into the more than 1500 page

energy policy act of 2005

permit hydraulic fracturing

operators to openly

violate the requirements

of the Safe Drinking Water Act

and also exempt the same

companies from disclosing

what chemicals

they inject into the land.

That simple paragraph

snuck in with little fanfare

is a twisted legalese

that allowed fracking

to begin and boom.

It was these flawed laws

that President Obama

inherited when he took office.

It's a tragedy

of the Obama administration.

The EPA has the authority

and the mandate

to solve these problems,

to protect people

from the oil industry

and people overwhelmingly

support clean air

and clean water

and use of laws

like the Clean Air Act

to protect people and reduce

green house and other pollution.

Hey, girls.

(Rod)

I've been told by, uh

my congressman, Jared Polis.

He came out and..

You know what he told me?

"It's time to sell out."

Is this what 15 million

Americans should do

if they don't like this,

is sell out and move on?

Sell our American dreams?

Give up on our homes?

Give up our property values?

Give up our fresh air?

Give up our American

way of life.

That's what he told me.

(Matt)

Not one of our

state representatives

or local officials or

anything have came, came here

to-to see what was going on

here. Not one.

Even when the EPA stepped in,

we thought they were gonna come

charging in like knights on

white horses and save the day.

And, when they issued that

order, we were like finally

we're gonna get

some kind of relief.

But then, the EPA settled

with the gas company.

It is our elected officials,

they turned their backs

on us...

that's who I blame first..

...because they allowed it.

(Thomas)

There's all kinds of attorneys

that we tried

to get in touch with,

they just, they say, uh

you know we're sorry,

there's nothing we can do

'cause you're

in a oil and gas state.

'But we wrote these letters

and sent them to, to everybody'

'that we could, that we thought

would be in some type'

of a position of authority

to-to help us.

(Kelly)

It's very frustrating,

and it's very scary

because we elected

these people to protect

what's happening in our city.

And when they don't,

when they blatantly, you know

choose the side

of the drilling companies

then that just shows you

that...you don't matter.

(Craig)

Politics? No, this isn't

about politics.

It's about people.

It's about people and if, uh,

if that, if they wanna make

it into politics, they need

to leave office and go to

work for the oil

and gas industry.

But the people that represent us

should be looking at this.

And sadly, not one

local county state

or federal elected official

represents us here

in Pennsylvania has ever been

to visit one of these people.

(Mark)

In several instances

during President Obama's

administration, EPA

investigations have verified

claims of ground water

contamination

caused by fracking,

most notably

in Pennsylvania,

Wyoming, and Texas.

The agency has halted

or terminated

each of these investigations

and has refused to address

the continuing problems.

I think the industry

is scared of science.

And, uh, I think that

the science on the table

is looking worse

and worse for them.

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