To the editor:

The cost of our cheaper gas may be higher than the planet can bear. We praise ourselves in news and commercials for decreased dependence on foreign oil and gas. Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) has become the new standard for access to gas-rich deposits obtained by hundreds of steel and concrete structures closely dotting semi-remote areas of our country — Utah, Nevada, and Oklahoma, for example — that most of us do not see.  Once descending vertically, their drills now angle horizontally, covering many acres and using millions of gallons of water and toxic chemicals. 

Not only have they become a permanent blot on the land, but they have disturbed the deep strata below to the point of causing earthquakes and polluting aquifers. We are just now becoming aware of these negative effects and of one just as deadly above: escaping methane beyond the limits that our atmosphere can safely absorb, a gas even more deadly than that emitted by coal-burning plants in the larger greenhouse effect leading to global warming and climate disasters.

The sixth film in the Showtime series “Years of Living Dangerously, ” entitled “Winds of Change” illuminates the problem I have just described. It was shown two weeks ago at Liberty Hall and is available at any time on the Internet.  Let lawmakers and even our gas company know that Exxon/Mobil and the Koch brothers cannot destroy our planet for their own, and, yes, even for our own, short-term gain. I have written to Black Hills Energy and will keep informed locally as well as through such national organizations as Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).  I hope you will, too.  Everything is at stake.