In an attempt to increase 
 
energy supplies, 
 
drilling has begun 
 
on the first project 
 
to extract natural gas 
 
from underground shale 
 
in the United Kingdom. However, environmental 
 
and health questions 
 
have arisen, prompting 
 
the House of Commons 
 
Select Committee 
 
to launch an inquiry into 
 
the safety of the process 
 
used to obtain 
 
the natural gas. 
 
Known as 
 
hydraulic fracturing, 
 
the extraction occurs 
 
after chemical fluids are 
 
pumped into wells to 
 
crack the shale and 
 
allow gas to flow up 
 
pipes for collection. 
 
In the United States, 
 
where shale gas 
 
has been produced 
 
for several years,
 
some findings suggest 
 
that the extraction 
 
coincides with increased 
 
methane and wastewater 
 
in drinking water supplies 
 
near drilling operations. 
 
 
In states such as 
 
New York, drilling 
 
has been halted 
 
completely pending 
 
further investigation after 
 
the discovery of cases 
 
where people living near 
 
natural gas shale projects 
 
were actually able 
 
to ignite gas in the water 
 
running from their tap. 
 
Philip Mitchell, 
 
a Green Party councilor 
 
living near 
 
the United Kingdom project 
 
underway in Blackpool, 
 
has begun compiling 
 
a petition asking for the 
 
exploration to be stopped 
 
until its safety 
 
to the health of humans 
 
and the environment 
 
is confirmed. 
 
Professor Kevin Anderson 
 
of the Tyndall Center 
 
for Climate Change 
 
is also raising concerns 
 
over a potential increase 
 
in greenhouse gases 
 
during the shale gas 
 
extraction process, 
 
stating, “Given that we 
 
need to get our emissions 
 
down very radically, 
 
the idea of trying 
 
to extract yet another 
 
fossil fuel, with more 
 
carbon emissions, is 
 
completely at odds with 
 
the scale of the challenge 
 
we need to deal 
 
with climate change.” 
 
We appreciate 
 
your diligence, 
 
House of Commons 
 
Select Committee members, 
 
Councilor Mitchell, 
 
Professor Anderson, 
 
and other parties, 
in prioritizing of public 
 
and environmental health. 
 
Let us all step toward 
 
developing the most 
 
sustainable forms 
 
of energy for a verdant 
 
British Isles 
 
and protected world. 
 
During a February 2008 
 
international gathering, 
 
Supreme Master Ching Hai 
 
further reminded 
 
of the need to focus 
 
not on alternative energy, 
 
but on the more urgently 
 
needed adjustments 
 
to reverse the planet's 
 
foremost threat 
 
of climate change.
 
Supreme Master Ching Hai : Everybody knows 
 
by now, from the UN 
 
report that meat eating, 
 
animal raising,
 
it's 
 
one of the worst factors, 
 
or even the worst factor 
 
of climate change.
 
And nobody talk about it. 
 
OK, new energy, biofuel, 
 
hybrid car, 
 
compressed air car, 
carbon sucking machine, 
 
dig a hole 
 
and store the carbon.” 
 
As if it will not bust 
 
one day. 
 
And before that you have 
 
to breathe in already, 
 
as if will not affect you. 
 
It's not just about dying. 
 
It's suffering. 
 
Mental and physical, 
 
psychological, emotional, 
 
before dying.
 
Because of all this gas, 
 
it's already in the air. 
 
It affects people a lot. 
For the sake 
 
of everybody's survival, 
 
and their own children, 
just replace 
 
one piece of meat with 
 
another piece of tofu?
 
Especially 
 
even nowadays,
 
we have all kinds 
 
of vegetarian meat, 
 
it tastes so delicious. 
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Shale-Gas-Extraction-MPs-Inquiry-Into-Controversial-Exploration-Of-Fossil-Fuel-Energy/Article/201102115925456?lpos=Politics_First_UK_News_Article_Teaser_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15925456_Shale_Gas_Extraction%3A_MPs_Inquiry_Into_Controversial_Exploration_Of_Fossil_Fuel_Energy,
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/02/01/01greenwire-ioil-and-gas-group-urges-oscar-judges-to-steer-99256.html