We are a group of citizens who have organized to advocate for our communities and rural residents, for public health, for clean air and clean water, for the protection and responsible use of our natural resources, for the protection of our farms and food supplies, for greater accountability in our elected officials, and for the fair and accurate reporting of the news.

We believe that citizens are entitled to all perspectives regarding natural gas development and management.  At the local level, this includes programs offered by the county commissioners and the Natural Gas Resource Center, approvals by planning commissions, municipal and township officials for facilities such as treatment plants for waste water recycling or disposal.  It also includes laws and policies our state representatives and regulatory agencies may enact. And, finally, this includes reports by our media on local, state, and national developments.

We call for greater participation by citizens and ask them to become well-informed and to support policies that they believe will truly benefit this and future generations.

We are concerned that all too often government oversight of energy policy is dictated by money and politics and is not in the best interests of the public, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

When budgets are created that slash the funding of the very agencies that have been established to monitor and enforce the laws, we are all adversely affected.  Without adequate personnel, financial means, and a clear mandate to protect our citizens  and our environment from the many consequences of industrial development, the EPA, PA DEP, DCNR, Penn DOT, the State Police, and all other state and federal agencies are seriously compromised.

We recognize that we live in a society that consumes fossil fuels at a prodigious rate. We all enjoy the benefits from these fuels and by our consumption contribute to their development.  Therefore, we are all responsible for the harm that they cause, and we are obligated to become part of the solution.  We can demand that resource extraction be done in a responsible and sustainable manner.  We also can and must demand that our elected officials serve and protect the people they represent, not the shareholders and executives of the corporations that profit hugely from oil and gas extraction.

We live on a planet of limited resources, a planet that is already experiencing the devastating effects of climate change.  Choosing to “Think Globally But Act Locally,” we believe that active, informed citizens will ensure a better future for all.