Yesterday we had a conversation about an AP article and breast cancer rates in Texas.
We, as a nation, have been down this road before. I can remember exactly where I was (driving my VW on I-30 in Fort Worth nearing the Montgomery Street exit) when the radio announced that Big Tobacco finally released their secret formula for their cigarettes. After decades of funding their own science (tobaccademia?), disinformation from Hill & Knowlton (the same spinmeisters Big Gas & Oil is now using), threatening and intimidating people who ask questions we learned the cancer causing ingredients in their cigarettes.
I never smoked but I remember that day well. It was the day I stopped believing corporations and their paid scientists and started trusting my common sense. People who live in the gas patch know they are being poisoned and exposed to carcinogens.
And guess what. There is still no proof that cigarettes cause cancer but everyone with a lick of sense knows they do.
It’s hard to believe we are going down this road again.
How the oil and gas industry is exactly like the tobacco industry.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I think the only conclusion we could come to is just understanding that there is just simply too much money at stake for the Industry not to protect it at any cost.
There are also way too many variables and possibilities in the mix that are cause for ailments, sickness, disease and death. We are an ‘industrial society’. We use chemicals routinely in our daily lives, some of which are highly toxic. Industry takes advantage of this by making these correlations, which only serves to continue to create doubt, allow them to continue their madness and ensure future cash flow.
What’s troublesome to me is that Big Tobacco, through a whistleblower, I believe, conceded that nicotine was addictive, they had prior knowledge of this, and worked to keep this a secret for decades; yet, the tobacco companies are still raking in millions and obviously extremely profitable. (when was the last time you heard a cigarette manufacturer falling on hard times?) Our state and federal governments have a huge stake in this as well, getting many millions in tax revenue.
So I suspect, at some point in the future, Industry, the Big Gas Mafia will come to the same conclusions, but at what cost to the populace?
The only difference i see between the Big Gas Mafia and Big Tobacco, is that if you smoke, you only impact your own health and those in your immediate vicinity. If you drill wells, the health and welfare of masses are affected.
I think the group of people who have power and money can never have enough of either.
Fracking Company Paid Texas Professor Behind Water Contamination Study
http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/07/23/fracking-company-paid-texas-professor-behind-water-contamination-study/
“Dr. Groat has been reminded of his obligations to report all outside employment per university policy,” Leslie said. “If the university had known about Dr. Groat’s board involvement, the Energy Institute would have included that information in the report.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/university-of-texas-to-review-report-on-gas-fracking-impacts.html
Oops.