Hear directly from our board member,
Dr. Ned Ketyer...
"2017 was my first year as a PSR-Philadelphia /Pennsylvania board member. Much of my time was spent working on the
11th Hour Grant
, connecting with health care professionals to help them understand the health risks their patients and families face by living, working, learning, and playing in the Marcellus Shale gas patch.
Working with the Southwest PA (SWPA) Environmental Health Project and PSR-Philadelphia/Pennsylvania on this grant project uncovered numerous challenges in making those connections. Fossil fuel extraction has been underway since the first commercial coal mine on Coal Hill in Pittsburgh commenced operations in 1760 — 257 years ago. Unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) utilizes the more recent technology of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") of deep shale formations. T
he fact is that, like oil and coal, shale gas extraction and its use, is still a heavy, dirty industrial process, which has similar - and in some cases identical - public health impacts
.
My goal in 2018 is to
continue to raise awareness among health professionals about the multiple crises we face
:
- The air pollution problem from UNGD operations and fossil fuel use, which makes people sick;
- The ecological plastic problem, soon to be exacerbated by the construction of the Shell ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA (ethane is the prize of the Marcellus Shale, not methane);
- The existential, global climate crisis; and
- The moral-ethical crisis of responsibility and accountability to our fellow humans, to future generations still unborn, and to all life forms on Earth.
2018 will be a critical year to raise awareness and encourage health professionals to learn more so they can advocate for their patients, families, communities, nation, and planet."
-Ned Ketyer, MD, FAAP
