Worries on the left

Dear Editor:

My real issue with fracking for natural gas is that the solutions used in the process are treated as industrial secrets. Congress, furthermore, has passed legislation exempting these gas extractors from any regulatory requirements. Effectively this shields these companies from liability for our water supply.

In order to prove that a gas extraction company poisoned your water supply, you have to be able to state that they put the dangerous chemical into the water table. If there are no records of what chemicals the company is using, how are you going to say they put the offending chemical into your water?

As for the issue of jailing people indefinitely without charges, let alone a trial, my friends on the political left have pointed out an even more dangerous trend. The murder of U.S. citizens abroad, and anyone else in close proximity, by drones. Supposedly these dead citizens were engaged in terrorist activity, but since there are no charges or trial, we have only the Obama Administration’s word for it.

Now some people on the political right are all for letting businesses do whatever they want regardless of who gets poisoned, and making supposed terrorists just disappear. I, however, would like to make the point that, under current practices, there is nothing to prevent President Obama from simply declaring all Republicans terrorists. Then, he can send his political opponents secretly to prison indefinitely. Of course, I do not expect that to happen. Nevertheless, it worries me.

Patricia Witt
Berkeley Springs