* From a press release…

An anti-fracking sit-in at Governor Quinn’s office Tuesday, continued Wednesday and resulted in another arrest. To date, two people have been arrested for refusing to leave the Governor’s office because he has yet to fulfill their request that he meet with community members in Central and Southern Illinois that will be most affected by his plans to bring hydraulic fracturing to the state and that he support a moratorium on the practice.

The sit-in began after a house of representatives committee voted to unanimously to support a bill to regulate hydraulic fracturing in the state of Illinois. The bill is scheduled to go to the house for a vote Thursday at noon.

Governor Quinn stated that he plans to sign the bill once it reaches his desk.

While proponents of state bill 1715 claim this the “strongest regulatory bill in the nation” critics claim it has minimal protections. The bill prohibits revealing special fracking solutions, nor can doctors or other officials make public chemicals that have poisoned people. In addition, the bills horizontal setbacks are only 500 feet from schools and 300 feet from rivers, although at least a 3,300 foot buffer zone is recommended.

When asked why she was arrested today, Dayna Conner said, “We know fracking is shown to cause direct harm to people and living communities. It destroys land and homes. We’ll do whatever it takes to keep this destructive means of extraction from harming our families and the land.”

Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Union and Jackson counties in Southern Illinois have voted for a moratorium on fracking as well as the cities of Carbondale, Murphysboro, Alto Pass and Carlyle.

Citizens will continue to put pressure on Quinn to support a moratorium throughout the remainder of the week. The sit-in at the governor’s office will continue Thursday with Occupy Springfield joining in. Illinois Peoples Action is organizing a protest at Governor Quinn’s this Friday at noon.

* A photo provided by the group…

More pics here.

       

39 Comments - Rick - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 10:58 am: You sure they’re not protesting in favor of med marijuana??? - TCB12 - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:03 am: That beard is awesome. - uwaga - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:07 am: When will activists learn… this isn’t the way to do things. oy. - JoeVerdeal - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:23 am: These absolutists are an embarrassment to the people of Southern Illinois, most of whom support development. Proof of this can be clearly seen in the county courthouses of the region, which show the recorded leases of a vast number of acres for drilling. Carbondale’s eco-zealots are well understood to be loopy. Frankly, I feel sorry for Governor Quinn, who now gets to experience the obnoxious bleats of these people as a consequence of doing the right thing for the region. - Colossus - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:26 am: @Rick, thank you for your substantive addition to the conversation. I’ll let my sick relative know she’s nothing but a dirty hippy. She’ll be quite surprised, as will her knitting circle. Sheesh. - railrat - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:29 am: not impressed why didnt they chain themselves together? rookies I guess lol - wordslinger - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:32 am: I don’t have a problem with non-violent civil disobedience. It’s a great tradition. You’re willing to go to jail, have at it. There have and continue to be worse ways to protest. - Downstate Illinois - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:34 am: I would suggest to journalists to sit down and talk with these radicals and report on just how extremist they are. These are people who are literally opposed to our oil-based economy. Facts and the truth don’t matter. Just their emotions and feelings. - JoeVerdeal - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:44 am: @Downstate Illinois, your idea is an excellent one. Journalists might also focus on the ongoing use of products produced via fracking by these activists. As a rule, they do not practice what they preach. They want to deny others the benefits of oil and gas production while they continue to consume fuels, petrochemicals, nat gas, etc. - Colossus - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 11:48 am: Downstate: you say “These are people who are literally opposed to our oil-based economy” as though that is some type of irrational response to a natural state of being. Our energy needs are currently met by burning a finite resource, which causes pollution that is having detrimental effects on everyone. These are facts and truths. Acting as though our energy sector (and the economy/civilization that is built upon it) is a given, natural, and sustainable way of doing things is, I believe, the extremist position. Legislation is all about compromise. While I’m not against fracking as a concept, neither am I in favor of continuing to burn a finite resource that causes damage to the commons. I think this regulation bill will be a great step forward. I also think this should be the last stopgap measure before we pivot our energy production to a new source. See, compromise? That’s how we move to a future where we can continue to enjoy many aspects of our advanced technology while still ensuring that both what we build today and a livable planet will be here for our grandchildren. - Downstater - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 12:21 pm: Who provides money for these folks who spend their days protesting? Are they on state and federal programs? Are they funded by specific groups? They seem to have lots of time to do nothing, but protest, while the rest of us are working. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 12:26 pm: “Dear - Downstater -, Right on! Signed, Lee Elia Former Cubs Manager” - Plutocrat03 - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 12:30 pm: The rent-a-mob buyers must be so proud. Cheapest publicity you can buy. My main problem with the fracking bill is that it might be a bit light on revenue production. The religious polemics of man - bad, nature - good don’t interest me. - Small Town Liberal - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 12:37 pm: - The rent-a-mob buyers must be so proud. - Where does this delusion come from? Are you saying that the well funded side of this argument is the environmentalists, rather than the energy industry? I don’t agree with these folks, but the idea that they’re hired guns is some kind of bizarre fantasy. - ArchPundit - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 12:49 pm: ====Dear - Downstater -, ===Right on! ==Signed, ==Lee Elia ===Former Cubs Manager” Diet Mountain Dew really clears out the sinuses. Dang you OW! - ArchPundit - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 12:54 pm: ===Where does this delusion come from? Are you saying that the well funded side of this argument is the environmentalists, rather than the energy industry? ===I don’t agree with these folks, but the idea that they’re hired guns is some kind of bizarre fantasy. They aren’t even tied to the mainline environmental groups who have endorsed the compromise. If the environmentalists were hiring, they probably would have found a guy who doesn’t look like he is panhandling to represent the cause. - Johnny Justice - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:26 pm: If the elected County Board’s of Jackson, Johnson, Pope, Hardin & Union Counties all voted for a moratorium on fracking, with the very down economy in sourthern IL, and the prospect of so many jobs from fracking, then the public sentiment must truly be against fracking there. Perhaps Bradley is misreading his constituents. He certainly did not seem too happy when confronted with the facts at the Committee hearing on his bill. - Rich Miller - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:32 pm: ===He certainly did not seem too happy when confronted with the facts === I think it was more the goofy NIMBY hyperbole which made him so uncomfortable. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:33 pm: - ArchPundit -, Apologies. I couldn’t resist. - Rich Miller - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:38 pm: Translation of Downstater’s comment: Hey, you hippies, get off my lawn!!! - wordslinger - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:42 pm: Willie’s post prompted me to listen to Lee Elia’s infamous tirade. It’s a classic. I was among the 3,000 or so who went to games quite a bit that year (I was working but had days off). If you had to manage that team in that empty mausoleum, you’d go nuts, too. It’s readily available on the google, but I don’t dare post it here. Not for work or sensitive ears, but well worth a revisit. - dupage dan - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:44 pm: === Our energy needs are currently met by burning a finite resource === Yeah, I remember being told back in 1970 that we had enough oil to last us to the end of the century but then we’d all be freezing in the dark. Today, we have more reserves than we did back then and have learned new ways to extract energy from existing sources. Face it, the world’s energy is petroleum based. Does that cause problems? Of course it does. Is there an alternative that causes NO problems? NO. The energy needs of the planet are such that any source would have to be quite large and would have consequences no matter what type. That is just a reality of modern society. So, unless you think 6 billion people could live on the beach in Maui wearing nothing more than a palm frond and eating cocanuts you have to accept that petroleum is the way to go for now. These attempts at creating a false shortage (like the 1973 oil crisis) are just that - false. When we really do get close to running out of oil we will all know it. The ability of creative folks to secure new energy sources will be spurred on by the mother of necessity. That need just doesn’t exist right now. - Colossus - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:47 pm: As a non-sports guy, the Lee Elia thing was…eye opening? I literally don’t know how to describe that. Wow. Woooooooooooow. Sounds like the kind of guy that won’t leave his house unless the onion on his belt is tied juuuust right. Downstater, once my onions come in I’ll kick you a couple to keep you in stock. - Keyser Soze - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:52 pm: It’s still the sixties in Carbondale. - Small Town Liberal - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 1:57 pm: - That need just doesn’t exist right now. - Umm, yes it does. We may not be at the crisis point of running out of oil, but you don’t wait until the last minute to start reinventing a world economy and energy infrastructure. Aside from that, pollution is a serious problem, and we should be doing everything we can to cut emissions. That said, natural gas is a relatively abundant source of energy that is much cleaner than petroleum. A lot of the same infrastructure can be used or modified for use with natural gas, and there’s lots and lots of it right here in the US. The answer isn’t to sit tight and wait for the oil to dry up, it’s to start shifting to cleaner and more renewable fuels. Well regulated fracking for natural gas is a step in that direction. - Rich Miller - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 2:00 pm: === Well regulated fracking for natural gas is a step in that direction.=== Exactly. I can’t help wonder why these folks aren’t demanding a moratorium on coal mining. - 47th Ward - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 2:11 pm: I had to climb over these people a couple of times yesterday. They didn’t really bother me, but they were intentionally making themselves an obstacle. I’m as green as the next guy, but stunts like this don’t help the cause. The Capitol Police were right to remove them. - anon sequitor - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 2:12 pm: I can remember investing in a Southern Illinois oil well back in the 1980s that used “fracking.” It was unregulated back then, but will be now. And, I’m not aware of any negative reports from the 80s or 90s about the practice. - dupage dan - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 2:18 pm: STL - the need does not exist. Not today - and not for at least 100 years. Technology research to deal with the eventual change is ongoing. So is the technology research to deal with the pollution. My point is that it is naive to think that there is a form of energy which can be harnessed that has NO consequences to the environment given the large scale required to satisfy the global demand. To think otherwise is to be either ignorant or obtuse. - dupage dan - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 2:21 pm: BTW - STL - I agree re natural gas. However, there are many in the environmental movement who are working just as hard to prevent natural gas development as they are on tar sands and fracking. The goal is to create a false energy crisis by strangling petroleum resources and forcing the change. All that does is raise fuel prices artificially which, in turn, raises the cost of food. Not a problem for me but it sure has an impact on those who live hand to mouth. - dupage dan - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 2:22 pm: === I can’t help wonder why these folks aren’t demanding a moratorium on coal mining === Nothin’ sexy ’bout coal, Rich. - Small Town Liberal - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 2:30 pm: - I can’t help wonder why these folks aren’t demanding a moratorium on coal mining. - Obviously the anti-fracking groups pay better… DD, even if there’s an infinite supply of oil, we should be doing everything we can to limit it’s use. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s just good policy. - drew - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 4:09 pm: ‘’Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Union and Jackson counties in Southern Illinois have voted for a moratorium on fracking as well as the cities of Carbondale, Murphysboro, Alto Pass and Carlyle.'’ Does that mean people in those areas are all driving Priuses and taking mass transit to reduce dependence on fossil fuels? There are not magic gnomes in the gaspump making gasoline out of thin air every time they fill up. - Treesong - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 4:17 pm: JOBS: The jobs that fracking provides are temporary, toxic, and carry high rates of injury. They also wipe out other jobs. When rural lands are industrialized for gas drilling, tourism and recreation industries disappear. HEALTH: Fracking water contains various carcinogens. This legislation would stop local people and their doctors from finding out what chemicals their water and air has been poisoned with. There are plenty of other options for energy and for jobs. Fracking poisons people, destroys other industries, and ultimately just lets people from outside Southern Illinois get rich off of our pain and suffering. A moratorium is a bare minimum to give the people of Illinois more time to hear about the issue and the scientists to do more research. Personally, I think we’ve already got enough evidence for a ban, but a moratorium would at least give people time to review the full evidence and see if they agree. - Educated American - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 5:28 pm: Clean water is FAR too important to be trusted to the oil and gas industry. Ask the Gulf Coast residents. The Kock brothers themselves have said that the people of America don’t matter because they don’t bring a check. And you want to trust THEIR ’science’? - Arthur Andersen - Thursday, May 23, 13 @ 6:56 pm: Willy, I missed that comment earlier. Hilarious and right on point! Well played indeed. - dupage dan - Friday, May 24, 13 @ 12:27 am: === DD, even if there’s an infinite supply of oil, we should be doing everything we can to limit it’s use. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s just good policy === Why? - JoeVerdeal - Friday, May 24, 13 @ 8:14 am: Educated…..There has never been a problem of any sort with the use of water by the drillers in Southern Illinois. People are drinking water drawn from aquifers that have been penetrated and fracked to kingdom come already. They are fishing and swimming in lakes that have provided frack water in earlier drilling booms. Get real. The anti’s are doing their best to scare the public. A few people are vulnerable to their noise. That’s all. - dupage dan - Friday, May 24, 13 @ 9:25 am: Educated American, oil and gas compainies have been around for decades - drilling and digging and all that stuff. If what they were doing was SOOOO horrible, I would expect our water supply to be so tainted as to be unfit for human consumption. And yet, we up here in Chicago drink water straight from Lake Michigan with just a bit of chlorine added to kill off the stray microbe (remember what WC Fields said about water - I never drink the stuff because fish sh!t into it). Folks in SoIL have been drinking water from wells near where fracking has been going on for years and years (see JoeVerdeal above) and there is NO evidence that the fracking has caused any serious problems for the aquifer. You been watching “Gasland” on a loop, haven’t you? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.