Reply #34

http://inthesetimes.com/article/12905/the_layer_ploy


Oil pumps in operation at an oilfield near central Los Angeles on February 2, 2011. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Of all the political tactics used to protect business interests, none is as powerful as the layer ploy—the one in which an ugly corporate giveaway is hidden one layer beneath something popular. It’s the oldest trick in the book: Offer up Mom and apple pie, and few are likely to notice the noxious serving plate.

Whether it’s a lobbyist-written trade deal lurking beneath a bill extending unemployment benefits or a corporate subsidy undergirding a must-pass defense spending bill, this is the way some of the most corrupt policy has become law in recent years. It’s also the way oil and gas business allies are now advancing that industry’s interests in the face of proof that drilling may be endangering Americans’ health.

The situation is harrowing. In just the last year, the Environmental Protection Agency and Duke University have both uncovered evidence linking groundwater contamination to the controversial drilling practice known as hydrofracking. The incriminating findings are so clear that according to Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate, fossil fuel firms in Pennsylvania acknowledge that the “natural gas exploration industry is partly responsible for rising levels of contaminants found in area drinking water.”

In response, many communities are trying to slow the drilling boom. That has created a serious problem for oil and gas companies, who want to drill as much and as quickly as possible. So their political allies are working to tie drilling to Mom-and-apple-pie initiatives as a means of crushing any opposition.