It’s not that difficult to figure out why Rep. Gibbs is all for fracking

To the Editor:

Comment on "Congressman Rails Against More Fracking Regulations" (The NEWS, Nov. 21).

Congressman Bob Gibbs, R-18^th District, was a hog farmer, so one must assume he knows something about hogs. He has received a number of awards in his career as a politician from large agro-businesses lobbying organizations, so perhaps he knows something about the use of corporate money to influence the legislative process. He may know something about pesticides because he has introduced a bill to prohibit regulation of pesticide use over open water. He may also know something about concealed firearms because he has introduced a bill to allow carrying them on Army Water Resource Project lands.

Yet, he doesn't know anything about oil and gas drilling or oil and gas drilling regulation. So, I think someone told him to say, "This state-centric regulatory approach is clearly working as there have been 1.2 million fracking operations and not a single incident of water contamination."

Not one? None? Really? That is a pretty perfect record for any bunch of humans for any activity. Does anyone remember that deep sea drilling had a similar predicted low risk of failure? A quick Google search found a Rightwing Blog "News Busters" that admitted to the occurrences of a "few" cases of water contamination.  Fact-Check notes that federal EPA has several on record and also notes that "cases of water contamination are pretty hard to find since most incidences have been resolved through sealed payoff settlements between those damaged and drilling companies."

Significantly, the legislative exclusion of regulatory oversight of fracking in 2005 made it impossible to count that which could not be observed. Even so, New York, a state occupied by 20 million of the best educated and richest people on the planet, temporarily banned fracking in watersheds important as drinking water sources until additional data and analyses were in. Just a bunch of nervous Nellies, I guess.  Or perhaps, they feel that caution is wisest because it's very hard to fix a contaminated aquifer.

So why would Congressman Gibbs say that, while also taking a hard line against any further oversight of fracking? Because Jim Imhoff (R-OK) said it; because Doug Lamborn (R-CO) said it; because the American Petroleum Institute said it; and perhaps because he who pays the piper still names the tune. A review of Gibbs' top 10 campaign contributors (2009-2010) demonstrates that this old saw still cuts:

• Energy & Natural Resource Extraction, $189,859

• Ideological/Single Issue, $145,624

• Misc. Business, $81,563

• Construction, $75,500

• Finance, Insurance & Real Estate, $65,162

• Other, $60,489

• Agribusiness, $33,450

• Transportation, $28,250

• Lawyers & Lobbysts, $22,326

• Health, $15,650

• Communications/Electronics, $10,520

Robert L. Wiley
Albany