Most people don't know of or understand the role of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.
Although this is an oversimplification, the SRBC approves water withdrawals from the Susquehanna River and its tributaries...and gets paid for it, i.e. the more water withdrawals they approve, the more fee income they receive.
Think about it. They are making a profit from the sale of our commonwealth's public natural resources...
For the record, and as taken from the minutes of their last ( June 2011 ) quarterly meeting, they have no problems whatsoever approving water withdrawals for hydrofracturing from our cleanest, highest quality streams:
What's even more disappointing is that almost no one testified at the last two quarterly meetings. No one spoke out against the SRBC's continued rubber-stamping of permits to support water withdrawals for hydrofracturing. And no one spoke out in protest of their current plans to buy/build/lease a new headquarters building which is being funded - in part or in whole - by the exploitation of our precious natural resources.
The SRBC must be stopped.
This reminds me of a policy in VA where the social services agency got a bonus for every child REMOVED from his or her home. Getting a bonus for selling water out of our rivers and streams and getting a reward for it is like taking a child out of a home and being paid for it. Misplaced incentives.
ReplyDeletePeacegirl