WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama signed sweeping land and water conservation rules into law on Monday, setting aside millions of acres as protected areas and delighting environmentalists.
The measure, a package of more than 160 bills, would designate about 2 million acres -- parks, rivers, streams, desert, forest and trails -- in nine states as new wilderness and render them off limits to oil and gas drilling and other development.
Read more HERE.
The National Park Service has a major opportunity to close a set of thirty-year-old loopholes, which currently exempt more than half of all oil and gas wells from regulation.
This opportunity is especially urgent now that a huge natural gas boom has been found on the Marcellus Shale in the northeast, which could threaten dozens of units of the national park system if the Service does not act.
These parks include iconic landscapes, like the Gettysburg battlefield, the Flight 93 national memorial, the Delaware Water Gap, and the Appalachian Trail. By modernizing its regulations now, the Service can best protect the units of the national park system by setting the gold standard for oil and gas regulation.
We the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania call for a complete moratorium of all natural gas and oil drilling activities, including exploration, until a time when the processes involved do not affect the environment (including land, air and water) and the health of the population in any negative manner what so ever.
Sincerely,
GAS STOCK
RALLY-CONCERT-FESTIVAL
Sat., AUGUST 21, 10-6
*NOTE NEW TIME*
"Gas Stock," a Marcellus Shale and environmental awareness concert and rally, to be held Saturday, Aug. 21, at the Luzerne County Fairgrounds in Lehman Twp., will feature live bands, speakers and vendors.
Admission is free. More information will be posted at www.gasstockconcert.com.
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