This is reposted and expanded from a comment at the request of some folks who felt this deserved a wider audience.
Some insight into Southern New Hampshire:
A massive private profit export pipeline is ginning up a dubious case for “eminent domain” claiming an energy crisis in the Northeast, proposing massive land takings all across Southern New Hampshire. (as well as NY and MA) These pipelines are metastisizing anywhere there is route to a coast and many states are under siege. In the Northeast this is one of many pipelines seeking eminent domain takings.
This pipeline proposed for Southern New Hampshire has been opposed by overwhelming numbers of communities and their citizens all along this region, and in town votes through three states. Trump didn’t win hearts when he crowed about how great “eminent domain” is. And when Bush jumped in to “champion the people” with the little touching story of little old ladies tossed out of their homes for Trump development plans, on phony eminent domain arguments, he also stepped on his petard. The backer of Bush’s campaign is none other than the (former Enron) owner of this pipeline company, Richard Kinder: Kinder Morgan, a “yuge” funder of Bush, and even Bush’s brother’s presidency back in this man’s ENRON days.
This latter fact has been all over the internet in this region since the primaries began: so Bush, in his attempt to “differentiate” himself from Trump, stepped in his own waste. In fact Bush’s backer is advocating much worse, which I will describe more fully in a moment. Peas in the rotting pod.
Meanwhile, here are some other observations on the Democratic side of the Primaries hereabouts: Jean Shaheen who is a corporate Democrat supporting TPP has completely ignored this section of the state, and has been consistently and completely unresponsive to Democratic voters, as well as other constituents in Southern New Hampshire, in any aspect of this pipeline concern. And a lot of these folks are those who pounded the pavement to help her attain office, and now feel completely disgusted with her betrayal, indifference and hypocrisy. This has been going on for well over a year. The term “crickets” doesn’t begin to cover it.
She isn’t doing Clinton any favors in this area with her endorsement: just showing how indifferent and cold the party leadership is to the folks who have been supporters for years! These are vast land takings in three states (NY, MA, and NH) to connecting points in Southern Main and Eastern Coastal MA en route to the Canadian Maritimes.
This massive pipeline is a class I (lowest safety), and the company is making a real point of locating it in the most concentrated population centers in rural areas, right through public drinking water supplies and massive takings of pristine conservation land. It makes a point of running through population centers in communities and peoples homes: Most are dependent on well water, or town water supplies.
A further concern is that this unstable, toxic, unconventional gas from fracking is also more radioactive ,along with endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins, VOC’s, etc. . . . and is being located near and under, live electrical, direct transmission cables: yes, a leak has a much greater chance of resulting in massive explosions.
Many more homes are located in incineration zones broadening out from this route. This is a massive export pipeline for private gas investor profit. Compressor stations will exist in neighborhoods. These communities will be destroyed: property values will plummet and public safety and health are at great risk. Peoples lives will be ruined, and the anxiety this has caused countless citizens has been ignored by Ms. Shaheen. The organization that monitors pipeline safety was already understaffed: it cut its national workforce by 9% this year. It is cheaper, now, to pay fractions of interest on massive wealth, than to spend money on safety, or human health, or to settle lawsuits when people die, or property is destroyed, or drinking water is no longer potable.
The DOE just granted approval to Pieridae Goldboro in Nova, Scotia for LNG export facilities: paperwork associated with this project states “pipeline and fossil fuel companies” (in the U.S. and Canada) will make “eighteen quadrillion dollars +” over a twenty year period.
Quite a pot of private investor gold at the end of this particular pipeline rainbow! and this is one of two okay’d so far. And it appears that not only have extractors over produced, but that they are severely in debt with banks that have lent billions at a very low% with massive tax deferments, so taxpayers, property owners, and lowly serfs will be on the hook for all of it, to be paid nothing for this destruction to citizen lives, while once again, wealth hoarding is furthered to an obscene, unparalleled level.
The DOE has now granted export to both free trade and non free trade nations for over 50 percent of U.S. produced gas. (Susan Sakmar, 2014) And you can read Bill Powers 2013 book about how investor hyperbole has given a distorted picture of recoverable versus existing gas “resources”, and how well production declines sharply within a year on all but a few wells. Subsequent to his writing, a number of shale plays have experienced sharp declines.
And more information is emerging from places around the country, despite gag orders on families with children, and despite the medical communities concerns about dangers to human health, and to precious drinking water, never mind the suffering of people in their own homes as this has surrounded their neighborhoods.
Senator Ed Markey came out just this week to talk about the devastation exports will cause to this region, and cited concern from U.S. manufacturing firms about what exports (and limited resources siphoned off for export) could do to jobs and manufacturing in the U.S., both in driving up prices, but also depleting a resource for U.S. manufacturers. It seems that “energy independence”, which we don’t have and now never will, was never really the goal of massive fossil fuels expansion: more like expecting the public to subsidize gas development so it can be siphoned off to further enrich that small group of investors we hear so much about whose bloated off shore accounts do nothing to advance this nation: the ultimate welfare.
So back to our Primary events:
Shaheen was booed at a event for Clinton, likely because of this, to which she is reported to have gone all “public schoolmarm” about “respect” in response. (NOT RESPONDING TO YOUR CONSTITUENTS is, oh, a bit more “disrespectful” than being “booed”.)
Then there is the candidate herself. Several voters from these towns have approached Clinton at rallies with concerns about drinking water, safety and abuse of eminent domain, and the massive methane and environmental concerns of this: Clinton was reported to be curt, and dismissed this as “a state concern”, getting away from them as soon as possible.
Folks in the crosshairs of this have learned that Clinton has promoted FRACKING all over the world. And is either uncaring about the health and public safety risks, or willfully ignorant in the face of investor greed. She has lost credibility with many Democrats in this region because of this. So it is glaringly evident that concern for the voters/residents of this region in either party’s aspiring top leadership is NIL:
With the exception of Bernie Sanders, who grasps the full implications of this, and is opposed to Fracking, and has stood with citizens.
In conclusion, approximately twenty thousand+ ( a guesstimate, and likely many more) voters and their neighbors in these Southern New Hampshire communities have had a real education about both parties in this region. . There are many pristine, unspoiled conservation areas, peoples homes and entire towns that will be turned into superfund sites and incineration zones, (except that they are already exempt from superfund legislation thanks to Bush/Cheney and their sell out Dem cronies.) Electricity ratepayers are, further, supposed to finance this atrocity.
Basically, its pretty clear that our nation’s wealth is being siphoned off for massive, concentrated private profit. While whole populations and communities become sacrifice zones where votes don’t matter: its just kabuki theatre.
Increasingly we have no representation to protect property, to defend our lives, or to protect ourselves from harms embedded in our food or the water we need to survive. Our lifetime investments are pawns for insider political deals with investments, fossil fuels, and international wealth. Specialized lawyers to adequately represent average folks are beyond nearly all citizens’ means. Even class action is no longer adjudicated, but forced into corporate friendly arbitration for dwindling settlements, paid from a fraction of interest earned upon interest.
FLINT citizens who are poor, and poor and of color, know very well of this betrayal for decades.
What FLINT demonstrates (as do other abused communities in our nation and around the world) is very far along the continuum toward genocide, when laws are erased, and group think, cronyism, and corruption prevail. Human sacrifice zones, with every possible freebie for the bloated and connected. Our federal government closed its human rights office this year. Wealth is becoming reason enough for any atrocity, and who knows, perhaps even private amusement and competition.
Yes, supreme court appointments: and they will certainly be focused on the shuttlecock of social issues around which scapegoated groups win or lose, while we are all losing so very much more in the face of this deliberate distraction. Neither side is genuine in its postures: there is a massive hidden agenda of mutual interest with the same hoarding objective and only social issues to differentiate.
Consistency, not faux concern when the cameras are rolling, counts a lot more in these times. We are fed virtual word salad, tweaks and empty gestures. We are fed “me, me, me” and personna management, emptiness or vague claims, exaggerations and hate speech, name calling, bragging or other manipulative forms of non communication and deceit. Our corporate media no longer vets records or informs us: they are owned by the hoarders: right now we have net neutrality, but only for voters who have the time to spend researching facts, and for how long is this likely to be allowed? By either party?
Bernie Sanders is saying what is true, and standing with folks in Southern New Hampshire. He has been a long time advocate and is a rare combination of principle, dedication, integrity and tenacity, over decades, that throws other contenders into sharp relief. He is telling us to stand up for ourselves and offers to lead us in doing it: it will be a hard fight, but its the only chance our children have.
