Texans take on the frackers
FOR MORE than a century, Texas has had the reputation of being a state for Big Oil and Big Gas, and with good reason.
The Texas oil and gas boom started more than a century ago. If it were counted as its own country, Texas would rank as the eighth-largest oil producer in the world--a little over one-third of all domestic oil production comes from the state. Texas also leads in natural gas production at 7.1 trillion cubic feet this year--about the same as the next three leading states combined.
The Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) is made up primarily of people who worked for oil and gas companies. It often meets at an antebellum-style house, paid for by oil and gas corporations, right next to the state Capitol. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone, two natural history and science museums host permanent exhibits on the wonders of natural gas, and geology departments at state colleges are given grants from gas companies to teach students the joy of working for them.
Given all the money thrown around by the industry--and all the politicians bought and paid for--it would be easy to write off Texas as a state where environmentalists just can't win. However, a look into what happens on the grassroots level tells a very different story.
More at http://socialistworker.org/2014/06/23/texans-take-on-the-frackers .
[font color=green]Yes, fellow Texans, I read horrible socialist propaganda![/font]