[By way of getting this blog started, I thought I ought to post links to the various kinds of activism - writing of articles, giving speeches, producing PowerPoint presentations - in resistance to fracking that have taken up so much time over the past two years. I believe in being totally transparent about what one thinks and the basis of that thinking. This is one other way to counter the duplicitous and disingenuous ways of the gas lobby. I am willing to engage with anyone who disagrees with my facts and opinions so long as they do it honestly. So what follows is a kind of online resume of my efforts to bring a halt to fracking.]
When I first became concerned about the impact of this kind of unconventional gas drilling I wrote the following article called “Paradise Lost” for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10283/1093640-109.stm
Later in 2010 I wrote “Practicing Precaution: On the Farm and in the Marcellus Shale” for the online Common Dreams: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/12/25-0
That was followed by piece in early 2011 called “Wagering With Our Lives” – which appeared in the online Truthout site. http://archive.truthout.org/wagering-with-our-lives67861
Then just this past MLK Jr. Day, this article appeared in Truthout as my way of remembering and honoring my wife Lucinda who died on Nov. 14, 2011 of lung cancer. It was called “After Battling Fracking and Cancer, Lucinda Lost, and Found.” http://www.truth-out.org/after-battling-fracking-and-cancer-lucinda-lost-and-found/1326391924
Finally, I have given several speeches that were recorded and are now online. One of these was at the EPIC conference in Ithaca, New York. The “trailer” that appears up front contains some of the anger I sometimes let show, but the overall thrust of the speech was love of this farm and love of my fellow human beings, even those who do the drilling. I always strive to mention that the people who do the drilling are our brothers and sisters. This was called by the people who recorded it: “Fracking the Farmland: The Resistance Begins with One Man” – sort of an embarrassing title, but the speech is a nice introduction to why I will fight to make sure that this farm is not ruined by drilling: http://vimeo.com/26566364
I have also appeared in two videos that speak to my commitment to nonviolence as we go forward with trying to halt the drilling for shale gas.
The first is a quite emotional speech I gave in Trenton, NJ at an occasion celebrating that the Delaware River Basin Commission had voted not to go forward with permitting shale gas extraction in the Basin. The speech was raw and emotional because it came just one week after my wife Lucinda had died: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iYX9vamOVY
The second comes from my visit to Dimock, PA on Dec. 6 where we were delivering water to families who needed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylBJTX3xuu0
Then there is the Press Action piece written about me: http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/cleghorn02272012/
People who come to this blog to read my posts are entitled to know who I am and why I have taken the stand I have taken against the extreme form of fossil fuel extraction known as “fracking.”
And here is the link to the PowerPoint on “The Case for a Moratorium” that I did with my late wife Lucinda Hart- Gonzalez. This is the clickable, take-at-your-own-pace version:
http://go.to/marcellusstop