No, we do not need to negotiate with ecocidal profiteers
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Yesterday we witnessed violence. It was dressed up in nice clothes and a veneer of democracy, but it was violence nonetheless. Water Quality Control Commissioner's gave lip service to the truth. They agreed that the oil and gas industry fracking waste discharge rule proposed before them was incomplete, that there are no standards to protect human health and the environment for the twenty pages of chemicals listed in the petition (not to mention about 1000 more that are simply left unmentioned), and contains "serious legal flaws."
And then most of those same Commissioners voted to allow the petition to move forward.
The petition passed on a 7-4 vote with Commissioners Sloane, Chapman, Anderson, Chakalian, Laney, Frey and Bayliss voting Yes to allow the oil and gas industry's deficient petition to move forward.
We fail to understand how anyone could possibly believe that the very same industry causing the extreme heat and long-term catastrophic aridification of our beautiful home could be trusted to put forward a solution to water scarcity. In fact we do not believe for an instant that the Commissioners actually believe in the faulty petition presented to them, and yet they voted obediently to advance the oil and gas industry's plan. They knew the petition was incomplete, full of material misrepresentations, and lacking any evidence that discharge could be performed safely in a real-world setting, but it was clear that those who voted "Yes" were under the Governors political direction. Watch this telling clip from Commissioner Chapman, who clearly has lots of doubts but voted Yes to advance the petition anyways:
This anti-science political pressure is akin to Trump's recent firing of all independent National Science Foundation board members. Campaign contributions appear to matter more than scientific integrity, water, people, and the environment.
"I was following orders" is not and has never been an acceptable excuse for atrocities, and those who use such excuses are complicit. Commissioner's put forward the lame excuse that 'we need to have the conversation,' but the truth is that WE DO NOT. The petition, put forward by ecocidal profiteers, should have been rejected by this Commission.
Should we have a conversation with the Forest Service about how they are now spraying glyphosate on thousands of acres of our national forests in order to kill all the pesky underbrush and every single living thing that calls the forest home so they can facilitate easier logging? Should we have a conversation with the elected officials who have just voted to build a 40,000 acre 9GW fossil fueled data center in Utah that will use more energy than the entire state of Utah? Should we have a conversation with ICE agents about the human rights of thousands of immigrants rotting and dying in concentration camps with no prospect of due process? No. There is no point in talking to the perpetrators of such wanton violence. They must be held accountable!
The only conversation that needs to be had with the oil and gas industry is how much they will pay in reparations for all the violence, destruction and death they have wrought on this Earth.
The WQCC should not consider any petition based on the word of oil and gas industry front groups or any science funded directly or indirectly by those who stand to gain from fracking waste discharge.
The hearing has not yet been scheduled, but when we get there we will not be there to have a conversation with the WATR Alliance and its oil and gas backers. We will be there with the law, we will be there with the facts and the independent experts, and we will be there with the people to show the Water Quality Control Commission that following oil and gas industry orders is violence that will not be excused or forgiven.
Read more press about the decision:
THE PEOPLE CAN PROTECT THE SACRED
Despite our outrage, news of victories against injustice continue to buoy our spirits. Yesterday, in response to public outrage, the Socorro County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to proceed with a process to consider a moratorium on data centers that includes public meetings and feedback after plans for a 10,000-acre data center were announced. A Texas county voted to pause data center construction in rural areas for a year, and last week Hawaiʻi lawmakers sent a bill to the governor that would redefine corporations to prevent spending by "artificial persons" like corporations on elections, a potential end run around Citizens United that could be replicated in other states.
Bottom line: When we show up with the same relentless persistence as industry, we can protect what is truly valuable and sacred.
