Fracked Out

That 190-foot long articulated trailer shown on today’s front page is "bound for Cambridge to pick up a pressurized vessel for a natural gas plant in Parachute, Colo.," according to the caption below the photo.

Natural gas. It sounds so — natural. And it is. Only the methods used to get it out of the earth are unnatural. This weekend I watched the documentary “Gasland” and was really saddened about what the process of hydraulic fracturing is doing to the air, water and natural physical structures of America. The oil companies use all kinds of chemicals to break apart the shale and use up tons of water.

People who sold rights to their land to companies that excavate for natural gas can now light their tap water and it bursts into flames. They are losing their sense of smell, taste and touch and getting headaches and worse. Parachute, Colo., is one of the places that was featured in the documentary. And it’s happening all across America.