Earth Day 2010...Woodsy Owl?

Well...it finally came and went. Right now I'm suffering from a mild case of "green-out", so my Earth Day XL comments will be rather limited today.

First, I would like to thank my friends from northeastern PA - Diane, Richard and David - for driving to Harrisburg to join me. Two of the three arrived the night before, and David was there to help me set-up in the morning and break down at the end of the day. Truly...much appreciated.

A member of the local Green Party joined us - with signs - for most of the day. Thanks, Dan.

We also had a representative of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joe Hoeffel drive up from Philadelphia, chat for awhile, and drop off literature which we did distribute to all that stopped by for the rest of the day. I will offer that I've voted for Joe in the past. He's a good man, a leader, and I will vote for him again when I can. He's the only candidate for PA governor that has taken a "pro-moratorium" stance on Marcellus Shale drilling.

The building security guards ( armed ) were extremely helpful and courteous after I showed them my permit, with one offering he knew we were coming and that he read on my website it was going to be a "low-key"protest...and that it was. No chanting hordes, and definitely no folks dressed up in Woodsy Owl costumes.

Someone did comment that if I raised my 6'x8' DTOM banner a little higher, it would be visible from the Turnpike. If nothing else, it was noticed by quite a few folks and several pics were taken by passers-by.

In addition, some very high quality placards about the Radioactivity in drilling flowback water raised quite a few questions from folks that stopped by. Great job, Diane.  

I'm going to bullet-point my comments from here on out, and I'll keep names to myself to protect the innocent. Numerous DEP & DCNR employees from within the Rachel Carson Building came out to talk to us, grab our literature, and offer comments of support. One or two came back multiple times. A gent from Trout Unlimited also spent some time chatting with me. Several folks from Dickinson College, including a PhD studying various aspects of the Marcellus Shale play ploy, stopped by in the afternoon to chat and discuss what needs to be done. One of them appears to be a practical joker...and I'll tuck that tidbit away for future use. Numerous private citizens who knew next-to-nothing about Marcellus Shale drilling got a five-minute brain dump from me, and surprisingly, they didn't appear ready to walk away during the high-speed lecture. One even came back to grab more literature as he claimed to drop off the first batch at a local TV/news station right around the corner.  Thanks, "D". Please keep in touch. I want to see you...microphone in hand..get in some faces at a future Marcellus Shale public hearing.

Think about it...okay? Just ditch the Lakers shirt...

A reporter from the largest regional newspaper also spent some time with us. He claimed to be the Marcellus Shale Point person for the paper, and asked some very good questions and seemed to be further up the ladder of understanding than most. I did take a slight bit of offense when he somewhat diminished my bachelor's degree in the earth and environmental sciences. However, based upon my best guesstimate, I was doing independent research projects on the geology of PA and lecturing on the same subject before this guy hit puberty.  And I haven't stopped reading & learning over the past 30 years. Considering the amount of traffic my website gets from the DEP, Washington, PSU and several of the TOP gas producers in North America almost every day...I know I'm dead-on in what I post here. Good luck in your future endeavors. If you want to learn something relevant from someone who understands the science, isn't on BIG OIL's payroll, isn't out there seeking to profit ( the banner and T-shirts alone cost me well north of $600 ) and is considered by some very politically-astute folks as being somewhat credible...check back from time to time.

Thanks, Ben.

Anywho...I did what I wanted to do on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. I stood in front of the DEP's headquarters for 6+ hours and - as a private tax-paying and voting citizen - told them they need to do a better job. I hope the folks from within the DEP that visit my blog every day realize I'm one of them...without being muzzled. There are advantages to that.

P.S.: What the HECK is the DEP's policy on smoke breaks? Gheesh!

I have a list of "honey-do" tasks to complete today, but will be back tomorrow with this weekend's version of Weekend Weminiscing.

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead