Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of... Fracking?

For years, oil and gas corporations have been degrading our cherished public lands with the destructive oil and gas drilling method known as fracking. This has seriously impacted our public lands and groundwater, and areas buffering America's most precious national parks and monuments are at increasingly grave risk.
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As has been the case for generations, millions of Americans will celebrate this Independence Day by flocking to our national parks, forests and wilderness areas to enjoy the unique character of these federally preserved, protected natural and cultural landmarks, set aside by past generations for the benefit of future ones. The Fourth of July provides a reminder of the importance of having these designated federal lands -- publicly owned resources free of control by corporations or individuals that may not have the public's best interests at heart.

For years, oil and gas corporations have been degrading our cherished public lands with the destructive oil and gas drilling method known as fracking. This has seriously impacted our public lands and groundwater, and areas buffering America's most precious national parks and monuments are at increasingly grave risk.

To think of all the environmental damage already inflicted on our public lands, only for the sake of lining the pockets of the few and powerful, would have our founding fathers rolling over in their graves. But a solution exists. The Protect Our Public Lands Act, legislation introduced on Earth Day 2015, would ban fracking on all federal lands. Making this bill law would represent a momentous first step in rolling back the environmental and public health degradation caused by fracking in the United States.

By the end of 2014, oil and gas companies had leases on over 34 million acres of public land. Over 200 million more acres -- about a third of all federal land -- could be targeted for fracking in coming years. The blatant dereliction of duty by Congress and federal authorities has not just allowed but encouraged oil and gas extraction on our public lands, and it is time that we stop allowing the expansion of fracking on public lands.

Careful consideration of the facts leads one to recognize the need to halt fracking. Ninety-four percent of the studies investigating the health impacts of shale gas development have found significant risk or adverse health effects. Just a few short months after the New York ban, the Maryland legislature passed a two-and-a-half-year moratorium on fracking, and the state's Republican governor allowed it to pass into law. After all, there's nothing partisan about public health and safety.

The rising national movement against fracking has been driven not just by emerging science but by a groundswell of grassroots activism, representing a fundamental shift away from false energy solutions that harm our health and environment. A November 2014 Pew poll found that 47 percent of Americans oppose fracking, while only 41 percent favor it. When the Bureau of Land Management originally proposed their rules to regulate fracking on public lands, more than 650,000 comments were delivered asking for a ban instead. Regulating fracking still risks accidental spills, water contamination, methane leaks, more earthquakes and more habitat destruction. The only way to avoid these risks is to ban fracking, period.

The people, and the governments of New York, Vermont, Maryland and countless cities and counties, have made it clear that they will not tolerate fracking, and our federal government shouldn't tolerate it on public lands either. The Protect Our Public Lands Act is a critical opportunity for Congress to step up and get on the right side of history by protecting our national resources and heritage while simultaneously making a real dent in America's contribution to climate change.

This Independence Day, as Americans visit our most cherished public lands, we must remember these places were set aside not just for us but for future generations. We should not allow corporate interests to degrade our federal public lands under our watch. Now is the time to take real action to protect our country's natural treasures and pass the Protect Our Public Lands Act -- a ban on federal lands fracking.

Congressman Mark Pocan represents the Second District of Wisconsin, and Wenonah Hauter is Executive Director of nonprofit, Food & Water Watch.

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