Reply #41: Yes, it absolutely is.

[H2O Man]

Energy projects that involve the use of the earth's resources all have a negative impact. The larger the project, and the more it involves the harvesting of buried resources, the greater the damage.

Such projects have often been "hidden" from the American public. For example, the projects to reap oil reserves from the Middle East bring about but a dim awareness, when there are "shortagess," or leaders who ain't friendly to US "interests" -- meaning our oil companies' interests. But the destruction of their environment, and the impact on their populations, has never been a concern to Americans -- because they are unaware.

The large industries that require massive quanties of "energy" also produce massive quantities of wastes. These do not disappear. Again, the public has been largely unaware of these, unless they have had the misfortune to be in a neighborhood destroyed by the wastes. For many decades, industries in the US sought Indian territories ("reservations") for disposing of toxic wastes. When one was not available, they found isolated, poor areas for dumping.

I've been involved in working on numerous cases of this very thing for decades, my Friend. I've worked with populations devastated by toxic dumps. I've had the opportunity to work with some of the top scientists and lawyers and medical experts in the nation. I've brought witnesses to Washington, DC, to meet with those government attorneys who want to do the right thing -- to protect people and other living things -- despite the fact that bureaucracy handcuffs them, and holds their agencies hostage to "big business." And I've had family and friends die at an early age due to exposure to toxins. So when I say "death," I am not appealing to emotion, but to rational thought.

The exact same toxins used in the industries I've been intimately involved with are used in these current energy projects. I'm reminded of some research I did in the early 1990s. I invested a fair amount of time reading the records on one important case. I found that page 100,556 of the US EPA/ NYS DEC report was "missing." Being the suspicious type, sitting alone in the basement of a public library, reading volume after volume, night after night, I thought, "Why is page 100,556 missing? By accident? Yet, no other page is missing. On purpose? Why?"

I did a FOIL request. No response. I made phone calls. Not respected. So I had RFK, Jr., demand the missing page. Got it. It proved, beyond question, that the government officials knew the industry in question was lying to them and the public. "About what, Mr. Waterman?" you ask. About three days of rain in April of 1991, that resulted in some natural springs running into a lake, and killing virtually every fish that was living in that lake. Again, when I say "death," I am not appealing to emotion, I am stating a fact.

People can continue to inhabit the fog of dim awareness. Or they can wake up.