Radon gas in your kitchen, exploding pipelines in Greenwich Village, terrorism you ask? Yes, but not the kind of terrorism we have been sadly awakened to recently in our country. This “terrorism” comes to us from many big companies doing business around our country, using us as experiments as untried and untested chemicals and infrastructure make their way into our bodies, our homes and our neighborhoods. Sandra Steingraber has called this invasion of our bodies, toxic “trespass.”
Special thanks to our friend Ronnie for bringing this video from Occupy the Pipeline to our attention, and to people like our friend Angela at The Mothers Project for making us more aware of this serious yet still “under the radar” issue. We want to bring this to YOUR attention so you can share it carefully with the kids in your life. Take 2 minutes and watch this video, you will find it hard to believe.
The sad truth is that in our rush for “cheap energy” we are ignoring growing concerns that scientists are raising about the potential for terrible long term health impacts and the potential for deadly accidents from fossil fuels and in particular natural gas, never mind the climate impacts, which are very real and sobering. On this note and as a quick refresher, methane, which is the main component in natural gas, is around 100 times more potent as a greenhouse gas then carbon dioxide over a 20 year period and 20 times more potent over 100 years; thereby working to trap solar energy and heat up our planet at an unnatural pace. The sobering part of this story is that, with the natural gas gold rush we are experiencing – if allowed to continue unchecked – it may be enough to push us over the “climate cliff” and to a point of runaway climate change..Truly a horror movie in the making.
All eyes on New York City. Can New Yorkers make this an issue in their November Mayoral race, such that it can’t be ignored? As many New York city buildings rush to convert from oil to “clean gas,” politicians and building owners are putting blinders on as to where and how this gas is getting to NYC buildings and whether or not it is really safe. They are drinking the “koolaide” the gas companies are serving. We need public hearings, in New York City and nationally on this. We need more health studies. There is NO rush for this gas except the artificial one being created by gas and oil companies to shore up their stock prices. We need to slow down the gas explosion before it really does “explode” in our kitchens, neighborhoods, playgrounds or backyards.
Something to think about today…
Yours,
Climate Mama
P.S. If you live in the NYC metro area and are interested in learning more about this, sign up for this free event: Lung Cancer and New York City Kitchens, on Tuesday evening, May 14th. See you there….
