Advocacy groups frequently sell or exchange their lists of members. As a result I receive many solicitations from environmental and liberal political organizations. Today I received one that began:
People like you and me are getting pushed to the sidelines in our own democracy as special interests buy access in the halls of power with big campaign contributions.
And it’s costing us dearly.
Wall Street’s casino capitalism wrecked our economy.
The U.S. Supreme Court okayed voter identification laws that trample on our democratic rights, then turned around and gave corporations the green light to secretly spend unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections.
The solicitation was from the League of Women Voters. I have spoken to L.W.V. groups on at least two occasions in the 1990s. I liked them--they were informed, reasonable, and interested in good government reforms. They were not at all radical; I would have characterized them as middle-class college-educated people who believed they could have a positive impact by studying issues. Now they are downright angry.
They should be angry. Today’s Morning Call featured an article detailing how the pro-drilling Marcellus Shale industry is outspending the environmentalists by 20 to 1.
The system is not broken, it is fixed. We should be angry. We should be furious.
In regards to the Marcellus drilling. While we do not have this direct problem, it has reached us here in Illinois. We have a state park (Starve Rock) that will be affected. It seems as though an adjacent area of land has some very desirable sand that is used in fracking. Since it is directly adjacent to the park it will have a detrimental affect on the environment. It more than likely would have an affect on water flow and be harmful to the wildlife in the park. Also the pollution from the equipment and vehicles. Not to forget the added traffic congestion.
ReplyDeleteSadly it will probably happen because the state claims it would create jobs. Fracking sucks!
Here is the story for anyone who would like to read the article.
ReplyDeletehttp://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-11/news/ct-met-starved-rock-sand-mine-20120111_1_sand-mine-proposal-fracking-rock-formations