Today's TIMES (July 12, p.5) contains an article about Pennsylvania's plan to lease that state's public-lands to oil/gas interests that practice "hydraulic fracturing" (aka "fracking"). Ohio will soon pass similar legislation. Is this a wise move?

Our own State Representative Andy Thompson has co-sponsored Ohio HB-133 that will open State Parks like Salt Fork to "fracking" ... The process (depicted in Josh Fox's film "GasLand" has come under fire because residual water containing toxic chemicals leaches into steams, creeks, and wells where local residents obtain drinking water ... It kills farm animals, fish, and wildlfe and makes people sick ... How many REAl "jobs" will actually result from this risky venture ... Some studies (IHS Drilling Data Inc.) suggest that "the shale play is part of a giant Ponzi scheme" Is it another "dot-com "bubble"? Should the "buyer" (in this case, Ohio taxpayers and potential investors in Marcellus/Utica shale gas-drilling schemes) "beware"?

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