Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Fracking: Pennsylvania Gags Physicians

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, March 19, 2012

Fracking: Pennsylvania Gags Physicians

Click here to access article by Walter Brasch from Dissident Voice.

Because fossil fuels fuel the profits of the One Percent, it is clear that they shall have priority over public health in the US.

The offensive clause in this bill just passed in Pennsylvania in February reads as follows:

If a health professional determines that a medical emergency exists and the specific identity and amount of any chemicals claimed to be a trade secret or confidential proprietary information are necessary for emergency treatment, the vendor, service provider or operator shall immediately disclose the information to the health professional upon a verbal acknowledgment by the health professional that the information may not be used for purposes other than the health needs asserted and the health professional shall maintain the information as confidential.