Well look, a new study has revealed that fracking chemicals are being found in
the bodies of children in Pennsylvania. Now, between you and me, that's no surprise. We were,
I think you and I were reporting about this easily 15 years ago. I mean, I think that's
about when we started talking about fracking and back then we were saying, you know, why is it
that they're keeping all the chemicals that they use in fracking such a secret. They were being
sued in multiple jurisdictions for one thing and that is, just tell us the chemicals that
you're using. We want to know whether they're going to kill our children. We, we saw examples
of being able to set, set fire to water that was coming out of spickets and we knew, okay,
that might be benzene. It might be toluene. It might be styrene. It could be any number
of things that are causing that, that combustion. But they kept it secret and the, the, let's see.
The, the Bush administration allowed them to keep it secret. The Obama administration
allowed them to keep it secret. It looks like now the secret's out. What do you think?
I think we're going to see more studies like this, especially now that this one has come out and
this one was really only done, I think it was five households around a fracking site in Pennsylvania.
But the, the numbers, the number of chemicals found in, in the children were absolutely
through the roof. I'm talking about, you know, a hundred times more than the acceptable level
of endocrine disruptors, of chemicals that are known to be carcinogen, carcinogenic. I mean,
these children through no fault of their own are going to go through a life of
long-term health problems, possibly a life that is dramatically cut short
because these fracking companies are allowed to do what they're doing
with very little regulation, because that goes back decades with the Halliburton rule
and they're, they're, they're getting away with it right now. But as more studies come out,
it's going to be harder and harder for them to get away with this and that's, you know, where
people like you come in to take these people to court, to get some justice for these individuals
and ultimately that is where this heads, probably within just a few years, I imagine.
Well, what's the biggest problem is what the fracking industry has done
is they've bought up all the biostitutes. A biostitute of course, you've heard me use the
term as somebody that works, a scientist that works at a university and a scientist that's
out there trying to moonlight and make some extra cash by writing an article. They've done a really
good job of hiring all the biostitutes. We see that happen all the time. We've seen it,
you know, we've seen it with Roundup. We've seen it with dozens and dozens of chemicals. We've seen
it with pharmaceutical cases. So right now they're ahead, they're ahead in the science game and so
what Pennsylvania has allowed to happen is we now, if these numbers are even remotely correct, we're
seeing that the values a dozen times higher of things like benzene in the human body or toluene,
in the human body. These aren't just carcinogens. They shut down the liver, they shut down the
kidneys. There's some relationship to, to birth defects with some of these. But nevertheless,
Pennsylvania rocks on and says, well, we're making a lot of money and the deaths and the illness,
maybe it's worth it. What is your take? Well, you know, one of the reasons
Pennsylvania's so bad on the issue of fracking too, by the way, and you and I, you and I have
discussed this in the past so it's worth bringing up again, is because this is an area where you had
the Koch brothers come in with their little shadow organizations and they were funding all the races,
Pennsylvania and Ohio, for things even including school board, to be able to allow fracking sites
closer to schools. So, so this is a long time, you know, in the making here and now
we're finally starting to see these ramifications. But again, you know, as we're talking about here,
these children are basically being robbed of the opportunity to have a healthy life. You know,
that's the bottom line here and yes, the parents as well, they've, they've got the chemicals in
them too. So this is going to be a persistent problem that stretches far beyond Pennsylvania.
Yeah, ultimately what happens is taxpayers pay for all of this, Farron. Taxpayers have to foot
the medical bills that are going to take place, the disability bills that are going to take place.
They're going to have to foot the bills to clean up the waterways and the aquifers. These fracking
companies come in here, they, they absolutely destroy aquifers, entire aquifers. They destroy,
they, they, they destroy ecosystems in a sense and then the taxpayer 15 years later has to come
in and they have to clean it up. By then, you have the fracking company that's put all these billions
of dollars in their pocket. It's a great deal for them and taxpayers are left footing the bill.
Hawaii is the first state to declare a climate emergency setting an example for the rest of
the country to follow. Brigida Santos is here to talk with me about this right now.
Brigida, what, what's in Hawaii's new Senate resolution? How far does this thing go?
State Senate concurrent resolution 44 declares that climate change is a threat to the environment
and humans and requests statewide cooperation in addressing the adverse effects of climate change,
including rising sea levels and the global temperature, coastal erosion and protecting
critical infrastructure. While the resolution is largely symbolic, it also calls on Hawaii's
government to prohibit private investment and public subsidies in projects that exacerbate
climate change like coal oil, gas, or tree burning. It also calls on the government
to promote policies and infrastructure to replace fossil fuels with solar wind or battery storage by
2030. The state is taking action based on global scientific evidence and its own climate problems.
Yeah, it's a non-binding resolution, but at least they're doing something to get out there and say,
we're paying attention to it. Our beaches are eroding. We have sea levels that are rising.
Our infrastructure's at risk and we have to do something, even though the feds aren't doing
what they need to do, we need to do something on our own. How has climate change impacted Hawaii
besides, you know, besides the fact that right now they see their islands disappearing from erosion?
Yeah. Well, climate change has led to more droughts on Hawaii's islands,
which greatly impact indigenous communities, deteriorate freshwater streams and rivers,
and reduce access to water. Rising sea levels have resulted in long-term coastal erosion to
70% of the beaches in Kauai, Oahu and Maui. Local governments on several islands had
already previously declared climate emergencies back in 2019. But the new state-wide declaration
now acknowledges the urgency of this problem and aims to solve some of the most pressing issues.
Yeah. I'm wondering Brigida, are you seeing any signs that other States are planning
similar actions? I, you know, Florida comes to my mind, all the coastal States coming to my mind,
this would seem like a good idea. But what, what's your, what have you followed on that?
Sure. Many States in the US are now regularly experiencing climate change related catastrophes
from deep freezes to debilitating droughts, wildfires, hurricanes and storms. At least 33
States have now released a climate action plan or have one in the works. And these plans typically
set goals targeting greenhouse gas emissions, or focus on shifting to renewable energy sources.
But so far, Hawaii is the only US state to declare an official climate emergency. Now, back in
February, there was a house resolution introduced at the federal level to declare a national climate
emergency. And the Biden administration has spoken about advancing climate policies at home
and internationally. But we'll have to see how that plays out. And across the globe, nearly 2000
jurisdictions in 34 countries, have also declared climate emergencies. So it seems like people are
finally paying attention. But is it going to be too little too late? We'll have to wait and see.
Brigida, thank you for joining me. This is an important story. Hopefully,
some state leaderships will be listening to what Hawaii has figured out. Thank you for joining me.