Greens press Clinton to oppose fracking

More than 100 environmental groups are pressuring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to oppose hydraulic fracturing, days before her expected presidential campaign announcement.

The coalition of mostly local anti-fracking groups noted that New York, the likely host to her campaign and the state she represented in the Senate for eight years, banned fracking in December.

{mosads}“In light of overwhelming and rapidly increasing scientific evidence of harm, we ask that you now acknowledge the inherent dangers in shale development and stand with us and the countless families and communities at risk from fracking across the nation,” the groups wrote in a Friday letter.

“We implore you to listen to the science, listen to the pleas of mothers and fathers who don’t want their children to breathe or drink toxic chemicals, and join the anti-fracking majority,” said the groups, which include actor Mark Ruffalo.

The groups took the opportunity in the letter to criticize Clinton’s record on fracking, a highly controversial oil and natural gas drilling process in which water and chemical additives are pumped into wells at high pressure.

Greens have long said fracking threatens groundwater, soil and air quality, and that the gas it helps produce contributes to climate change.

But fracking has led an energy renaissance in the United States, making the country the top natural gas and oil producer in the world.

As secretary of State, Clinton promoted fracking globally as a way to increase energy security. The letter called that decision “gravely disappointing.”

Clinton later said natural gas can be a “bridge” fuel toward greater use of renewable energy, which the environmentalists said was wrong.

Fracking is not the only issue on which environmentalists are frustrated with Clinton.

They have also pressured her to come out in opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline, an issue she has largely avoided, owing to her position as secretary of State.