Post Classifieds
Students show up to say "No fracking way"
By Brian Alexander
On April 26, 2012
Last Thursday, students holding brightly colored signs, shouting things like, "Frack
is whack!" and, "Frack no!" could be seen all over campus.
The New York Public Interest Research Group organized a protest during Bengal
Pause against a contract signed by SUNY that will bring natural gas obtained
through hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, to Buffalo State.
Hydrofracking is the process of drilling into shale beds underground, shooting in
pressurized water and chemicals to fracture the formation and then extracting the
natural gas that is released.
Concerns with the process range from fragmentation of forests to the loss of
agricultural lands and consumptive use of large quantities of fresh water that could
then pollute lakes, streams, or drinking wells.
"Hydrofracking is a very controversial way of extracting natural gas," said NYPIRG
Project Coordinator Patricia Ceravole. "It's a very hazardous process. It can harm
not only the environment, but public health at the same time."
The $22 million contract with EnergyMark will supply Buffalo State, the University
at Buffalo, Fredonia, Alfred State and the New York State College of Ceramics at
Alfred University with gas from Pennsylvania over the next three years. A de facto
moratorium on high-volume fracking currently prevents drilling in New York State.
"It didn't come out until it was too late to do something about," Ceravole said. "The
students didn't know, the staff didn't know, so we wanted to make sure we got out
there and let as many people in the community know as possible."
The protest began in the quad between the Campbell Student Union and the E.H.
Butler Library. From there, the group moved inside the union for a "mic check,"
which involves a series of organized chants, exiting the other side of the union by
Upton Hall, marching back through the union quad to Rockwell Road and finally to
the Burchfield Penney Art Center for another mic check.
Members of NYPIRG, along with representative of Food and Water Watch Rita Yelda,
called for transparency, advancements in green energy and support for Bill 4220,
which would ban all hydrofracking in New York State.
"By picking the fracking industry over sustainables, what it does is it tips the
balance and it robs subsidies from wind, solar and also from biodigesters," said
James Burnett of Lackawanna. "The burden of proof is on the victim. That needs to
change."
"It's disappointing to see that no one spoke to students on campus to see how we
feel about this," said Chris Dyson, a student attending the event. "SUNY students
are a driving force behind New York State's future economy and we know that
renewable energy will be a big part of that future."
The City of Buffalo passed the first ban on hydrofracking in the state in February
2011. Moving forward, Yelda said Food and Water Watch will be organizing a rally
outside the office of Senator Timothy Kennedy on May 3.
"If each person that heard us out there chanting went out and talked to one other
person in the community or on the campus, I think we did what we set out to do,"
Ceravole said.
Brian Alexander can be reached by email at alexander.record@live.com.
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