MCTV Network's Community Voices
Jun 12, 2026 · 32 min · 10 segments
US Common Ground is produced by Dr. Ziggy Kozicki through the facilities of the MCTV Network. In this episode Ziggy talks to Maya K van Rossum about finding common ground and protecting watersheds.
And I think if I recall, the argument for fracking included the idea that it would end up removing coal-fired generating plants from operating in the United States.
And of course, coal-fired generating plants really contribute to air pollution, including things like mercury being put up into the atmosphere and then coming back down into our waters.
In fact, one of the reasons that many of the lakes in Canada are dead, that they don't have fish anymore, is all the mercury that blew in from these coal-fired plants out in the Hudson Valley and other places where they were operating.
And it takes time, you know, I'm sure fracking will eventually be replaced by something else.
It'd be nice if it was renewable energy, like wind power, solar power, geothermal, which have less of a problem, but all those will have a problem also, but it's a matter of, is it less of a problem than the coal plant? Yes.
And we still hear it today is this misinformation campaign that natural gas is better for the climate than other fossil fuels.
at um and natural gas that's fracked the consequences for the climate of are much more serious and much more severe along with the harms to water to air to to land ecosystems that get developed
fracking process the process of extracting that gas from the ground And that is so intensive when it comes to environmental harm, including climate changing devastation, that it actually overwhelms all of these other fossil fuels when you look at it writ large.
Because what happens, you see, is if you look at the flame, the burning of the gas, yes, the actual burning of the gas may emit less climate changing emissions than the burning of the coal, for example.
And when you look at the entire life cycle, fracked natural gas can actually be much worse than coal.
And yes, all of these fossil fuels will eventually go away, including fracked gas.
But the question is, will it go away in time for us to avert the devastating consequences, the worsening consequences of a growing climate crisis? And if we don't get off you know, get moving fast and leave that gas in the ground along with all of the other fossil fuels and transform our electric system to one that is supported by clean energy options, it may be too late.
And of course, solar and wind and other clean energy options do have their footprint, but the impact is dramatically, dramatically on an entirely different scale than when we're talking about any of those fossil fuels, including natural gas that gets fracked from the ground.
And I think if I recall, the argument for fracking included the idea that it would end up removing coal-fired generating plants from operating in the United States.
And of course, coal-fired generating plants really contribute to air pollution, including things like mercury being put up into the atmosphere and then coming back down into our waters.
In fact, one of the reasons that many of the lakes in Canada are dead, that they don't have fish anymore, is all the mercury that blew in from these coal-fired plants out in the Hudson Valley and other places where they were operating.
And it takes time, you know, I'm sure fracking will eventually be replaced by something else.
It'd be nice if it was renewable energy, like wind power, solar power, geothermal, which have less of a problem, but all those will have a problem also, but it's a matter of, is it less of a problem than the coal plant? Yes.
And we still hear it today is this misinformation campaign that natural gas is better for the climate than other fossil fuels.
at um and natural gas that's fracked the consequences for the climate of are much more serious and much more severe along with the harms to water to air to to land ecosystems that get developed
fracking process the process of extracting that gas from the ground And that is so intensive when it comes to environmental harm, including climate changing devastation, that it actually overwhelms all of these other fossil fuels when you look at it writ large.
Because what happens, you see, is if you look at the flame, the burning of the gas, yes, the actual burning of the gas may emit less climate changing emissions than the burning of the coal, for example.
And when you look at the entire life cycle, fracked natural gas can actually be much worse than coal.
And yes, all of these fossil fuels will eventually go away, including fracked gas.
But the question is, will it go away in time for us to avert the devastating consequences, the worsening consequences of a growing climate crisis? And if we don't get off you know, get moving fast and leave that gas in the ground along with all of the other fossil fuels and transform our electric system to one that is supported by clean energy options, it may be too late.
And of course, solar and wind and other clean energy options do have their footprint, but the impact is dramatically, dramatically on an entirely different scale than when we're talking about any of those fossil fuels, including natural gas that gets fracked from the ground.
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