and hope he don't suffer no harm as a result.

the process and the dangers yet.

This last year he has been in bad health... Surgery etc.

I admire what he is doing but I don't want to see him hurt himself by doing this.

Thank you.

we cannot afford to lose him.

His health is uppermost in my mind. He is such a good man, and I would hate to lose him. Please, please reconsider.

outstanding_

Not looking forward to the effects on Mr. McElligott's health.

Out here in Western Colorado we are just begining our fight against the fracting industry. We received notification on the possible lease of 30,000 acres of land in our small mostly organic valley. We have been joined in our fight by many people across our nation.
The struggle against the Koch roaches, as we prefer to call them, is pandemic. They are reaching into every corner of our planet to extract public resources in a most vile manner. They must be stopped at all costs.
I urge all DUers to educate themselves to the issue and support your local efforts with all you have. If you are lucky enough not to live in one of the sacrifice zones find a group that is struggling with this attack and support them.
Thanks Will and Power to the waterman.

I could not be more proud of a DUer's determination to make a stand. I could not be more overwhelmed by an advocate's selflessness towards this cause.

That said, I fear for H2OMan's health. I can't help but fear for the individual, no matter how important the cause.

Thank you, Will for letting us know. I will do my best to be supportive, though worried. Best wishes, H20Man. You are greatly admired.

The man - or the groundwater.

I will keep him in my thoughts as I fear for his health.

A person with the courage of convictions.

Our country needs many more people like H2O Man.

Mitakuye Oyasin.

i wish him Strength and Courage in Abundance.

I have great respect for H2O Man and have always appreciated his DU posts. Like others, I am concerned for his personal well being in this endeavor and hope that we will receive regular updates on his status. Best of luck and many thanks to H2O Man.

remember how valuable you are to so many people. I/we admire you greatly, and don't want to see you hurt yourself.
I'll be rooting for you!

all of our support and love from DU.

Please be careful- make sure you get enough water- we don't want to lose you.

I'll be sending all the positive energy I can your way.

/hug

Marrah

to help publicize his efforts?

I am humbled by and so grateful for the effort he is undertaking and the sacrifice he is about to make.

His message and his convictions should be spread as widely as possible.

What are your thoughts on using social media to do this? Are there plans already in the works?

If you want to do so, have at it. All the info you need - his letters, his plans, numbers people can call - is in the article:

http://www.truth-out.org/clearing-stands-boxer-one-mans-fight-against-fracking/1326401455

if you think he'd have no objection, I think I'm going to do this.

I can think of few things that so comprehensively represent the things I think need to be stood up for and the things that people need to stand up against.

If you could confirm that he would be amenable to such a plan, though, that would be great. I wouldn't want to do anything that he felt didn't appropriately fit with his struggle.

(along those lines, facebook is facebook, and there are many issues with all of that, but it still remains a very good way to spread the word among friends and acquaintances who share some of the same concerns and passions.)

If you want to make sure, he will be dropping in on this thread (or starting his own) later today, and you can ask him yourself.

I will be sure to do so, or, if he drops in on this thread, I will look for his reply.

Great article, btw (from an ex-journo).

Speaking of my past life, actually, I do still have a number of contacts in the media. I could try to bring the story to the attention of a variety of people (it's a pretty good story in terms of how media people view these things - compelling subject, timely, frankly, the Hurricane Carter tie-in - I apologize for being so crass, but these are the crass factors that drive their decisions, as you probably already know).

You have framed the story eloquently on your own, of course. If you would like me to include you in any of my efforts to contact the people I know, that can be arranged. I would, obviously, be using your article as the most digestible source material to convey the contours of the story.

Please let me know your thoughts.

I plan on being in touch with Patrick throughout this protest to keep tabs and let people know what's going on. Some of it will be on Truthout, some on my FB page.

you seem like a talented journalist, and while, clearly, the most important thing is to spread the word as widely as possible, I wouldn't want someone to run with "your story" (of course, this *is* H20 Man's story) if I could also help you at the same time.

I'm going to send you a PM, regardless, to give you the three people, in order, that my instincts say to pass the story along to.

This isn't about me in any way, shape or form. The more notice this story gets, the better.

I sent you a PM with my list of choices to reach out to, if I don't hear back from you, I'll go in the order I laid out in the PM.

Unless the New York Times gets involved, or something of that nature, I don't think this will have a happy ending.

He'll be here later, you can doom-and-gloom at him personally.

speaking of the contacts I mention above, some of them are at the Times.

I think this story is something that they would be very interested in (again, please see above).

the kind of readership that would support this kind of action.

If you want to help, and have a twitter account eg, that will help get the story to a huge number of people in a short amount of time. Also all media can be reached directly on Twitter, which I am going to do. TV and print media also radio. The are all on Twitter.

Keith, Rachel and Cenk Uygar, should be willing to cover this and put it on their Twitter accounts.

Going to do that right now. I love this twitter button, makes this so much easier.

Well, I think it would be really nice if people would call NYS Senator Tom Libous, and tell him that they think he should talk to the leaders of the grass roots groups that are opposed to hydrofracking. That doesn't mean that he will change his position on fracking. But an elected representative should be willing to listen to people he disagrees with. He really should welcome the opportunity, even if he isn't going to change our positions.

He has offices in Binghamton and Albany. The Binghamton phone numbesr are: 607-773-8771, and 877-854-2687. The Albany number is: 518-455-2677. His e-mail is: senator@senatorlibous.com .

People can also call Governor Andrew Cuomo on this. You do not have to be a New York State resident. His phone number is: 518-474-8390.

Governor Cuomo has appointed his ex-brother-in-law, environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to an advisory position on hydrofracking in New York State. Robert disappointed the environmental community by initially being pro-fracking, except near the NYC watershed. He's taken a somewhat different position since the summer. Robert has the Governor's ear, and he knows me. It would be good if people called his office at Pace University, and tell his secretary, Mary Beth Postman, to have Robert call Cuomo on this issue. That number is: 914- 422-4343.

What else? Believe in the power of ideas. Have faith in the power of yourself. Act upon your ideas. Take steps to protect the environment, work for social justice. There may well be people who tell you to shut up, and who try to discourage you. Trust yourself. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

I will be using it today!

I'm bookmarking to call Cuomo and Kennedy on Tuesday when I think I'll have the best chance of getting someone on the line. H20MAN has been a good DU friend and he deserves our efforts in support of his noble action. I'm going to simply state that they ought to hear out the grass roots, and that it is shameful that a local activist of Mr. McElligott believes he has to engage in an action such as this to get the attention of his elected officials.

He told me he was busy with fracking issues and probably wouldn't be around for a while, but damn.

Solidarity Pat! I stand with Mother Earth and H2O Man.

Waterman's health is not the best to start with....

As a society, Americans don't always respond real well to hunger strikes. I wish a bunch of people in his state would stage some focused protests. I wish him luck and good health.

They have been. That's the problem.

What am I missing?

to convince them to pass moratoriums. We are in a time crunch--the gas co.'s want to swing into action in a hurry; they want to get leases signed before people can gather enough info to protect themselves.

www.frackfreegenesee.org

It's not like we can "do without" water. It's LIFE. I hope you succeed.

Our board seems to be leaning toward doing the same.

Very republican out here---the boondocks, you know. But there are also us, the informed, intelligent liberals.

One of the Town Board members lives across the street from me, is a flaming teapuke nut, the Board member who claims to have gone to PA and seen no problem with fracking.

He went on a long irrational rant at the first board meeting that the group attended--he somehow managed to include Pete Seeger in his argument.

I'm not surprised at him. He ripped me off big time for an excavation job I needed done in a hurry years ago when I first moved out there--and then afterwards (before I realized how shoddy his work was), sent a stream of emails to my boyfriend at that time, as an offer of friendship. They were such topics as pictures of yachts with envious commentary (huh? Why?) and jokes, including the infamous, misogynistic "women/snail trail" joke........

I can NOT STAND the guy!

What, does he think he'll be able to drink coke instead when flames start shooting out of his faucet? You can't fix stupid, but wouldn't it be nice if we could?

Water and air, we really shouldn't be screwing them up. When I was a kid, no one was allergic to anything, except maybe pet dander, ragweed and dust, and all "allergic" meant was "Ahhhhhh-CHOOOOO!" and a runny nose. No epi-pens, no dramatic runs to the hospital. Now, it seems EVERYONE is allergic to something, and I think that all this pollution of our world house might be a contributing factor. It's one thing to work your immune system, another thing entire to beat it to a pulp.

Who is that beautiful woman with the fantastic dog (and what kind of dog is that?) in your sig line? What a brilliant smile!

The dog is cute, too! Looks very loveable!

Keep fighting the good fight! Maybe someone should get some of that PA water and light it on fire, or send them DVDs of that documentary. Say, do you have public access tv in your neck of the woods? Maybe you could get permission from the GASLAND producers to do a one-time airing of that film, or maybe even a nice, salient chunk of it--worth asking, anyway.

http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

Thanks! That's so nice of you to say..... you made my day

And yes, Shrimpy is incredibly lovable!!!!! She is infinitely SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE-zy! She drives me MENTAL with her cuteness!!!! EVERYONE falls in love with Shrimpy.

I'd love to get some PA water and light it at one of the meetings!!!

It's looking like our town board is coming around, and will probably agree on moratorium.

Most all the other towns that I know of have already passed moratoriums......my concern is what happens next? A moratorioum is just a waiting period. After the year, I'm sure the bastard lying gas co.s will be out in force again.

P.S. I always love your sig pic. I always have to stop for a minute and watch. Love it!

The cat looks like one I had years ago--he thought he was a dog, and the dogs didn't let on that he wasn't!

What are his demands?

Period.

It might help if 100 DUers called the Governor's office 1-518-474-8390

http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact/GovernorContactForm.php

Rec - nice to hear about H2O Man

if there's anyone who can elevate people to the issues and dangers of fracking, it's him.

this dude walks it!

A human interest angle on a subject we generally want to do more on, has to be hard $cience oriented though too--no promises, of course

D

and thanks!

Best wishes and take care of yourself H2O Man.

K&R

Right on H2O Man!

It is disgraceful that appropriate governmental forces have not yet responded to the conscientious efforts of yourself and others in this important cause.

Great article, Will.

Am I missing something?


Thank you; great article. Great Spirit be with Patrick McElligot.

I'm in Ontario County, NY and there is citizen action in the little rural towns out here to get our town boards to pass moratoriums on letting the gas co. come in. Some people have already signed leases with the companies. Most town boards are agreeing to set a moratorium, most people I meet on petition drives are very much against allowing fracking. This is the Finger Lakes and it is sublimely beautiful. The disaster in PA demonstrates why it MUST be stopped.

www.frackfreegenesee.org
FRACKING=POISON

He talks about him in the interview.

but it is Elligot who will be doing the hunger strike, not H2O man.

He adopted the name as an homage to Waterman.

and admiration.

We're there with you in spirit!

Thanks for the thread, WilliamPitt.

would have the courage to do this. Not someone to say no to, they didn't know him I guess.

I hope the news papers in his area publish this, maybe we could call them.

The more publicity he gets, and maybe the local OWS groups, Albany, Buffalo eg, could support him.

He is a perfect example of real strength of character.

Fracking is wrong on so many levels. Best of luck.

it takes courage to do this.

I've read two studies on this that contradict each other. One study. done by Duke University, shows a correlation between methane concentrations in water drawn from wells near fracked sites. Another, more recent and more in depth study done by Penn State draws the opposite conclusion, i.e. that there is no correlation between fracking and contamination of drinking water wells.

The Penn State study points out that the Duke study was done before legislation requiring upgraded well casings and cementing was implemented in Pennsylvania which casts doubt on the applicability of Duke's findings to current practice. The study also points out that Pennsylvania is one only two states that have no standards covering the construction of private drinking water wells and that about 40% of the 233 wells studied failed at least one safe drinking water standard prior to the occurance of fracking. Methane seepage in the ground has been known to occur in Pennsylvania and high concentrations of methane in the water have been observed prior to fracking taking place.

My suggestion to the H20 Man would be to better educate himself on the subject and wait for a conclusive determination of the dangers and benefits of fracking before he goes on his strike.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/05/02/1100682108.full.pdf+html

http://www.rural.palegislature.us/documents/reports/Marcellus_and_drinking_water_2011_rev.pdf

that the industry better educate themselves and wait for a conclusive determination of the dangers and benefits before proceeding any further.

about what he learned to give me the impression he knew a lot more than most people about the issue. I trust his judgement, more than studies until I know who funded them. There is enough tragic evidence in this world that when there is money to be made, people do not matter. I would prefer to err on the side of people.

...not films that may or may not be telling all the facts.

who may or may not be telling all the facts.

My name is Will Pitt.

What's yours?

I think I gave a fair synopsis of both studies, but why don't you read them and let us know what you think? Both studies were done by a well known university and are credible, at least in my opinion. There is, however, no question that they reached different conclusions which was my main point.

To my knowledge, you are the only poster on DU that uses his real name. I don't see where that changes the credibility of your posts because facts are facts and opinions are opinions. If you're claiming something is a fact, I'd expect you to provide appropriate citations whether or not you really are William Pitt. As far as opinions go, I respect yours whether I agree with it or not.

You've made a lot of very good posts on DU that were well worth reading and I follow your posts on the strength of that. There are a few other posters on DU that I similarly follow and they are not using a real name. I don't think that detracts from the quality of their posts.

as being part of his reason for what he is now doing. Seems you have not read it.

I'm posting from a BlackBerry and looking for the study is a bit tedious with it. I'd be very interested to read that study and will have access to a computer tomorrow night.

is mentioned there by H2OMan.

See Post No. 73 for a link to that study and to the Penn State Study.

And this does not suprise me at all...Mr Watterman is one tough guy and if you get in the ring with him you are in for a real fight...
And he chose the issue most dear to him and his people and I admire him so much for it.

go h20 man. change is in your hands.

I wish Patrick more than the best, all his efforts will one way or another be rewarded, he has
Conviction and Courage and he is a powerful man.
( I am the daughter of a hunger striker, it stirs up much emotion, and oceans of support)

is this a "I'm not going to eat until they stop fracking"? Or is this "I'm not going to eat for a month to publicize the issue of fracking"?

If it's the former, then I worry for H20Man's health and welfare. If it's the latter, then I applaud his commitment and wish him all the success in the world.

Sid

A dialogue with public officials on the issue

Period.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002163385#post35

A very reasonable request. I worry about his health, but he's always been the stubborn type.

That's a beautiful combo.
K&R

Wishing H20 Man the best of luck in fighting TPTB. It's an admirable mission to prevent fracking and hopefully this will get enough attention to make a difference. He's a beloved DUer and respected by everyone here.

I am concerned about his health issues but sometimes you must take a stand for your beliefs.

Be safe!

any way that is preventable. He is so brave, and I never want to not support him, but this just hurts. I will make calls tomorrow, but that seems like such a small thing to do. Can't we get a group to at least join him? I am a diabetic, or I would go to be with him. My early demise or emergency room visit wouldn't help the cause, I don't think, or would it?

Recommended, while admittedly not 100% objective.

Thanks to everyone.

I'm working on trying to get your story out there. It needs be told as loudly as possible.

Thank you.

You are one brave dude.

Sending vibes from Cascadia >>>>> Souther Tier.

Who better to save the water?

--imm

And remember, even Gandhi himself drank water with lemon in it!

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sourish-bhattacharyya-on-anna-hazare-fast-gandhi/1/148709.html

Warm thoughts and much admiration

with H2O Man.



~PEACE~

A hunger strike might or might not work, dependent on the attention it gets and it can be very harmful and shorten his life. If that happens then what about all the work he won't be doing because he's too ill or worse?

Sometimes one has to fight the fight where it is in their lives. Changing minds, educating people, caring, and always doing the best one can to make things better for everyone can be an everyday endeavor, with no fanfare or recognition. But it's just as important.

Having said that I support H20 Man completely.

Not an easy course of action. We will ring phones and such in support, and I suspect think of him each time we eat while he does not.

Much love and support from this man!

That's what I tweeted, along with a link to your story. H20 Man, always liked & respected you on DU. Now I'm awed. I, too, have many physical limitations and am constantly trying to find a balance between pushing myself to do maybe more than I think I can and, at the same time, acknowledging that I can push just so far before I start to do real damage. I think I wimp out before I need to too often lately. You give me impetus to do more -- thank you.

Be well, sir. I don't know what your physical challenges are, but please take care of you through all of this. Will, I read your article at Truthout -- thank you for bringing PM's story to us. H20 Man, I'm not a believer but I'm going to be doing my version of praying for you everyday, many times a day.

one of DU's best for many years! I wish him well, this is such a powerful move against something so terrible.

because I hope to help spread the word in the hope it will facilitate a quick end of H2OMan's need to do this.

It is an act of great compassion for his community and the children of this nation and world. I am concerned for his health and safety, I hope he remains well and will also not hold himself to unreasonable standard.