David Letterman On Fracking: “They’re Poisoning Our Water Ladies And Gentleman, We’re Screwed”
“[G]reedy oil and gas companies of this country” are trying to “to squeeze every little last ounce of oil and gas out of previously pumped wells by injecting the substrata of our planet with highly toxic, carcinogenic chemicals which seep into the aquifer and hence into the drinking water of Americans,” said David Letterman. “The Delaware Water Gap has been ruined, the Hudson Valley has been ruined, most of Pennsylvania has been ruined; Virginia, West Virginia has been ruined; Colorado has been ruined; New Mexico has been ruined. They’re poisoning our drinking water. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re screwed.”
What’s funny is, before saying all that, Letterman admitted, “I’m not smart enough to understand fracking.”
It’s better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt, as the proverb goes.
As Mark Perry wrote, he should have stopped there.
Not that things like facts matter to those who go on rants about something they admit they don’t know anything about, but there hasn’t been one confirmed case of contaminated water resulting from fracking in the country.
What’s more, fracking has accomplished what decades of restrictive environmental policies and huge subsidies for so-called “green energy” hasn’t, which is reduce America’s carbon emissions by replacing cheap, reliable coal with even cheaper and every bit as reliable natural gas.
Thanks to fracking, carbon emissions are down to 1991 levels.
Sadly, though, Letterman’s ill-informed rant will probably have a bigger impact on most Americans than the facts.
Meanwhile, here’s Sean Lennon and his mom Yoko Ono performing an anti-fracking protest song to promote the former’s new website ArtistsAgainstFracking.com which will serve as a portal for celebrities, well-known to be informed and level-headed commentators on controversial matters, and their opinions on the practice.
