They never say in the commercials that shale drilling is the reason people end up in the hospitals to start with. We are now seeing some of the health effects of this industry and there is far more horizontal drilling going on by the day.

I would hope that instead of jumping head first on behalf of impulsive/desperate economics to ”drill baby drill” that we can learn more about these health, social, and environmental effects. We are not even close to half way through these companies estimated drilling and yet we are experiencing more and more negative effects by the day. We need to study what has been done and the long term effects rather than issue more permits and continue these aggressive drilling campaigns. Climate change, health problems, and social impacts are evident and the drilling has only just begun by comparison to the goals.

It is time to rethink this and look at renewable energies because fossil fuels wont last forever and shale gas doesn’t seem to be the ”green energy” it was said to be. Renewable energies can help the economy and provide healthy energy but we as a society must insist that we put our health over our bank accounts. We must educate ourselves and move forward instead of taking three steps back.

The companies that have made huge profits should invest in green energy technologies and lead the way to a healthier tomorrow. The option is still there and I think a lot of the communities impacted by shale drilling would support this change.