Medical Professionals: Tell President Obama to Place Health-Protective Restrictions on Fracking

Fracking is driving climate change and poisoning our air, water – and us.

Fracking - the technique for extracting natural gas or oil from deep underground sites - is polluting air and water, making people sick, and emerging as a fierce driver of climate change. It has to be stopped.

Fracking releases chemicals known to cause cancer. And because the process injects huge amounts of water underground, it brings dangerous fracking fluids, toxic gases, unwanted waste materials, and even radioactive substances back to the surface with no effective way to cleanse the millions of gallons of contaminated water.

Finally, the whole extraction process leaks significant amounts of methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time frame. This makes natural gas a threat to the climate, on par with burning coal! Not only does fracking contaminate the environment and poison the people who live nearby, it inflicts a “boom-and-bust” growth on rural communities.

If you are a doctor, nurse, public health professional or other health care provider, please join Physicians for Social Responsibility in petitioning President Obama to place health-protective restrictions on fracking operations. Sign the petition now.