Doctors to Lawmakers: Slow the Rush to Frack
Posted Feb 4, 2016 07:30 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL - State senators are poised to vote on a bill that would roll out the welcome mat for fracking operations statewide, despite grave concerns from the scientific community. The bill, which already passed the state House, would not require fracking companies to disclose the chemicals or potential carcinogens used in the process.
Dr. Lynn Ringenberg of Tampa is the national president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, and she says the speed with which the legislation is moving is alarming.
"They're asking the citizens of Florida to be guinea pigs, and I'm a pediatrician and I say you're asking us to trade the health of our children and grandchildren to make you wealthy," says Ringenberg.
Supporters of the bill say it could lead to greater
energy independence, and argue oil and gas drilling has
been done in Florida for decades. Fracking, however,
involves the controversial practice of blasting large
amounts of water, chemicals and sand into the ground for
oil and gas recovery, which critics say comes with a
high risk of water and air contamination.
Dozens of municipalities across Florida already have
passed measures prohibiting fracking or calling for a
resolution for a statewide ban on the practice. But, as
Ringenberg notes, the current legislation would bar
local governments from making those decisions.
"These bills would pre-empt that," she says. "And so
communities wouldn't have a right to say 'No, I don't
want oil and gas fracking in my community.' That really
is a dangerous precedent, I think."
The legislation would require the state Department of
Environmental Protection to undertake a study that would
include looking at potential risks and economic benefits
of the process. The
fracking bill was passed along party lines in the
Republican-dominated House last week. Its next stop in
the Senate is the Appropriations Committee.
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