Buzzworms in the Backyard
Strikes Again!
January 9-30, 2009
The deadline for entries in the Buzzworms in the Backyard exhibition is is Saturday, January 3, 2-5PM.
See the details
Registration Form
Back to School in the Barnett Shale
Submitted by don on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 10:47pm.
One of the most common sights in Fort Worth in recent years is that of city transit buses wrapped in advertisements for Chesapeake Energy.
The ads proclaim things like:
> Thanks Barnett Shale for cleaner air! (Dr. Armendariz and the State of Texas beg to differ)
> Thanks Barnett Shale for better parks! (with gas wells, pipelines and compressors nearby)
> Thanks Barnett Shale for a stronger economy! (other than slashed library hours, closed public pools & health dept., etc.?)
> Thanks Barnett Shale for better sex! (they haven't gone that far, yet)
This is called Greenwashing and its purpose is to wash your brain clean of concern about filthy natural gas. Then there's this one:
Thanks Barnett Shale for better schools!
Not true either, apparently. According to the 9/19/09 FW Star-Telegram, Fort Worth schools "rank toward the bottom" in statewide rankings. (see below)
>>> This is the same school district that denied students a chance to participate in the Buzzworms in the Backyard art-education exhibit but allowed them to enter a pro-drilling poster contest sponsored by Chesapeake.
>>> The same school district that has allowed gas drillers to help pay for and write a curriculum for teaching petroleum engineering at Southwest High School.
>>> The same school district that pays its school superintendent, Dr. Melody Johnson, $328,950. per year.
>>> The same school district that is planning to build a new elementary school about 600 feet from a 14 well pad-site - in a low income, Spanish-speaking neighborhood.
I'm pretty sure the faux-philanthropy that Chesapeake, XTO and others pay out doesn't match the true cost dirty drilling in the long run. But I'm not blaming Chesapeake for the low school rankings even though their false and misleading ads send students the message that lying is OK.
Rather, I blame the elected officials in the City of Fort Worth for creating an unhealthy and unsafe environment for kids to grow and learn in.
Fort Worth has the distinction of being the only large city in the USA to allow widespread drilling in every neighborhood, where kids live, play, work and go to school. Our kids are innocent guinea pigs that these elected officials are toying with.
The decisions and actions of Mayors Moncrief and KenBarr, give new meaning to the phrase, child molesters. They have "led" by example and their example is a poor one. They could have insisted on tough drilling regulations but they did not. They have padded their personal pocketbooks but failed in their responsibilities to public school children. In a just society they would be lucky to be in jail. But this is Dirty Ol' Town, Texas, USA.
UPDATE: The next morning after I posted this, the FW Star-Telegram headline read:
"Texas Ranks at Bottom in Healthcare and Education"
When I say bottom I mean bottom. Texas ranks #51 (behind D.C. and Mississippi). Translation: Fort Worth ranks as the most uneducated city in the most uneducated state in the USA. No freaking wonder we have out of control gas drilling.