by Randy Shannon
11/10/10
PA 4th CD Chapter of Progressive Democrats has formed a Marcellus Shale committee. It is temporarily chaired by Tina Shannon, PDA Chairperson. Due to the large number of news items from the mass media, business media, and environmental advocacy websites, we are adding a Marcellus shale page that will be periodically updated. Please click on the page listing at the top of our website to go to the Marcellus Shale page.
Dow Jones News Wire
Chevron Corp. (CVX) has agreed to acquire independent natural-gas producer Atlas Energy Inc. (ATLS) and its liabilities for $4.3 billion, joining its larger rival Exxon Mobil Inc. (XOM) in making a bet on natural gas.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101109-711992.html
-By Matt Jarzemsky and Matt Day, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240; matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com
Exxon’s acquisition of XTO nearly a year ago, some believe, has pressured Exxon’s stock because of a slump in natural-gas prices.
Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland said, however, “We are acquiring a company that has one of the premier acreage positions in the prolific Marcellus.”
The Marcellus shale, located in Appalachia and concentrated in parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York, is one of the hottest shale plays in the U.S. It’s helped contribute to the surge in North American natural-gas supplies and the resulting price weakness. Strong U.S. gas production has sent gas stockpiles to record levels, pressuring prices for much of the last two years. Natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange are trading at their lowest level for this time of year since 2002.
Continue reading Big Oil Buys into Republican “Tax Free” Pennsylvania
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the hundreds of thousands of progressives and others who demanded that Keith Olbermann be reinstated to his position at MSNBC. These people understand the enormously important role that the media play in contemporary American politics. They know the recent ascendancy of the Republican Party and right-wing politics had less to do with the leadership skills of Mitch McConnell or John Boehner and far more to do with the enormously powerful role played by Rupert Murdoch, Fox News and right-wing talk radio.
Progressives know there is something very wrong when a nation divided politically has one major network operating as a propaganda arm of the Republican Party and 90 percent of talk radio is dominated by right-wing extremists.
If there is a silver lining in the action of MSNBC against Keith Olbermann, it is that people will now pay more attention to the political role of corporate media in America. While commentators on Fox and right-wing radio have the backing of Rupert Murdoch, a major Republican contributor, and other conservative corporations, progressives understand that their position is extremely vulnerable. Keith Olbermann was suspended by General Electric’s MSNBC for a bogus reason. What will prevent the same thing from happening to Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz and other progressives?
General Electric, NBC’s parent, is one of the largest corporations in the world with an anti-labor history of outsourcing jobs and with financial links to military and nuclear power industries. Surely we understand that GE is not going to provide the same backing for MSNBC commentators that Rupert Murdoch provides for his mouthpieces at Fox News.
What has not gotten a lot of attention in the midst of this controversy is that GE’s NBC Universal, one of the largest media conglomerates in the country, is in the process of merging with Comcast, the largest cable television provider in America. The new head of that company would be Stephen B. Burke, Comcast’s chief operating officer and a “Bush Ranger” who raised at least $200,000 for the 2004 reelection campaign of President George W. Bush.
As Vermont’s senator, I intend to do all that I can do to stop this merger. There already is far too much media concentration in this country. We need more diversity. We need more local ownership. We need more viewpoints. We do not need another media giant run by a Republican supporter of George W. Bush. That is the lesson we should learn from the Keith Olbermann suspension.
Stop Gas Drilling in Rider ParkBy Friends of Rider Park
http://www.northcentralpa.com/article/stop-gas-drilling-rider-park
October 30, 2010
Rider Park is a treasure selflessly donated to the people of Lycoming County from the late Thomas J. Rider.
This park has been in existence for over twenty years. The park is used by schools to educate children and by colleges to demonstrate biodiversity. Mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners, cross country skiers, birders, gardeners, and many other clubs, organizations and individuals enjoy the park in every season.
Rider Park’s 868 acres of beautiful vistas and diverse forests are now threatened by development from the gas companies.
Stakes are already in place for two well pads. This would mean the destruction of forest and meadow, the construction of well pads and roads, the noise and pollution from over 8,000 heavy trucks going up and down the park road (2200 per well – in and out) carrying gravel, toxic chemicals, water, sand, etc, glaring flood lights in the night sky, pipeline construction and a possible compressor station.
The park as we know it would virtually cease to exist.
The current owner of Rider Park is the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania (FCFPA). The Partnership is entrusted with stewardship of this much-loved and utilized land within our community. The Board of Directors, is scheduled to vote on signing the gas lease on November 8th.
The window of opportunity to save the park is extremely narrow.
Please join with the Friends of Rider Park today.
There are several ways you can help.
1. Sign the “Save Rider Park” petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/7771100/petition.html
2. Visit the Friends of Rider Park website http://www.friendsofriderpark.com
3. Write a letter to your local newspapers
4. Send a letter or email directly to the FCFPA. Email: fcfpa@fcfpa.org Address: 330 Pine Street, Suite 401 Williamsport, PA 17701
5. Post the “Friends of Rider Park” website on your Facebook page, Twitter and other networking sites
6. Forward this message to everyone who may be concerned about this violation of public trust
Help STOP Rider Park from becoming an industrialized gas well drilling site.
The online Petition will be presented to FCFPA on November 8, 2010
Take Action Today!
Thank you
By John Grant
Over 100 people attended the eight-hour Town Meeting For Jobs Not Wars on Saturday, October 30th from 9AM to 3PM in an auditorium at Philadelphia Community College. On the same day, Jon Stewart had a major rally in Washington D.C. and President Obama made an appearance at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Organizers from the Coalition For Jobs Not Wars, the group that sponsored the town meeting, declared it a rousing success and a propitious beginning for the newly created coalition. So far, the coalition is made up of 13 Philadelphia community and activist groups. The list is expected to grow in the coming weeks and months. A follow-up meeting will be scheduled soon to evaluate the meeting and plan for the future.
The Town Meeting featured twelve speakers divided into morning and afternoon panels. US Congressman Chaka Fattah was one of the speakers. The speakers focused on the need to finance job programs, alternative energy development and other domestic needs.
http://launionaflcio.org/by Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
(Los Angeles) – We did it! We elected Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer, and all of our statewide candidates, Kamala Harris pending. Across the country, the Republican and tea party candidates may have won, but in California, the two main expressions of tea party politics, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, were stopped in their tracks.
For the last six weeks, we ran a major campaign from Lancaster to Long Beach to elect Jerry Brown. We filled more than 14,000 volunteer shifts on the phones and knocking on doors. Our efforts resulted in 450,000 one-on-one conversations with voters on the most important issue of this election—Jobs.
“We learned here in California, that the antidote to the tea party is the labor, Latino, African-American, progressive White vote coming together,” said Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO “If we do our job right, there are more of us than there are of them. Thanks to all of the sisters and brothers of LA Labor who did all the work and deserve this victory.”
It is now the morning after. Republicans, as expected, are celebrating a sweeping victory. Democrats are licking their wounds. Meanwhile, record numbers of people are still contending with the hardships of unemployment and foreclosure with no relief in sight. And the nation braces for deepening political gridlock.
It is a moment of opportunity for America to set a new course and for a young President Barack Obama to establish his place in history as a path-breaking leader.
So how does electoral failure and political gridlock create a moment of opportunity?
We are a nation consumed by short-term thinking and fragmented political contests centered on narrowly defined issues. Neither of our two major parties has a credible vision for the economic future of our nation.
The Republicans offer only their standard prescription of tax cuts for the rich, a rollback of regulations on predatory corporations, and elimination of the social safety net—a proven prescription for further job loss and devastation of the middle class.
The Democrats have no identifiable program for economic recovery, let alone for adapting our economy to the dramatic demographic, environmental, economic, and political changes that rule out any chance of a return to pre-2008 business as usual.
10 Ways to Solve the Jobs Problem
There are many ways to create jobs while building a better economy.
Continue reading Unemployment and Home Foreclosures Still Top Issues
By Carl Davidson
Beaver County Blue
“No Fracking Way! No Fracking Way!” was the chant resounding off the steel, granite and glass walls in downtown Pittsburgh on the sunny afternoon on Nov. 3, as nearly 500 environmental activists headed for the David Lawrence Convention Center. Their target was a gathering of 2000 natural gas drillers being addressed by Karl Rove, advisor to former President George W Bush.
Inside, the industry executives were meeting to discuss the “future” of hydro-fracking gas drilling and planning to use heavy explosives to blast apart the 4000-foot-deep Marcellus Shale formation to get the natural gas beneath.
“Only a dying soul,” said Stephen Cleghorn, “can contemplate the destruction of life that they’re discussing in that building right now!” Cleghorn is Reynoldsville, PA farmer, and his views reflected those of many semi-rural residents of Pennsylvania and other nearby states, where water was polluted and cattle died.
“They promise people all sorts of money,” said Bob Schmetzer, “but what’s your home worth if you have bad water? Nothing!” Schmetzer, carrying a placard demanding ‘prosecute the polluters,’ is the council president of South Heights in Beaver County, and the vice president of the 4th CD Progressive Democrats of America.
Continue reading Pittsburgh Rally Defends Clean Water, Opposes Natural Gas ‘Fracking’
Beaver County Blue: Voice of the 17th CD of Progressive Democrats of America 
