TO THE EDITOR:
Drinking water in North Carolina is in trouble. After a chemical spill from a coal power plant in West Virginia left over 300,000 people without water, I must say that I’m surprised by the lack of outrage toward this situation.
Can you imagine not being able to drink from or wash your hands with the water from your tap? The spill in West Virginia wasn’t waste from fracking, but it is a very scary and very real example of what could happen if we allow fracking in Chatham, Moore and Lee counties — just twenty minutes away from campus.
In his recent address, Gov. Pat McCrory indicated that one of his main goals for 2014 would be “energy exploration,” which includes seismic testing and natural gas drilling. Don’t be fooled by those who say that fracking can be done safely, because it can’t. Time and time again, across the United States, we’ve seen fracking devastate communities, pollute groundwater and make people very, very sick.
I urge my fellow students, and anyone who likes clean drinking water, to join the Carolina Against Fracking Coalition on a special day of action today, Feb. 5. More info can be found at www.facebook.com/carolinaagainstfracking.
Michelle Graziosi ’15
Environmental science
