Every year 24,000 people die prematurely because of pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Every year 38,000 heart attacks occur because of pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Every year 12,000 hospital admissions and 550,000 people suffering asthma attacks result from power plant pollution.

Every year, coal-fired power plants release 48 tons of mercury nationwide.

Power plants release over 40% of total U.S. C02 emissions, a primary contributor to global warming...

...and yet the coal industry wants you to believe that building more coal fired power plants in Michigan is a good idea!

...and now utilities want to burn (as biomass) our trees that capture and store harmful carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen we need to live

Good friends of Northern Michigan....

If you're reading this it's because I know you love Northern Michigan and do not want to see it meet with the fate of communities featured in the film Gasland.

Some of you know that recently I've been able to learn from inside sources some critical information on the activities of Chesapeake Energy and Halliburton in Kalkaska County. If we fail to act now to stop the onslaught of Halliburton-developed hydraulic fracturing the entire Northern Michigan water table, and possibly even the Great Lakes, face peril.

Please take a few moments and send a letter, or email, to your state legislator. And if you are pretty sure your state legislator is a pawn of the energy industry, take a moment to send it to a few who might listen, like:

The Senate Committee on Energy and Public Utilities

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs

View “Gasland” the Movie Trailer | CLICK

TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TO SUPPORT THE FRAC ACT
We need your help to pass the FRAC Act - twin bills in the Senate (S 1215) and House (HR 2766) that remove the exemption to the Safe Drinking Water Act for fracking and call for the disclosure and monitoring of the chemicals used in the process. Contacting your elected officials is critical to its passage.

And if you're having so much fun sending these emails, why stop? Send one to Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, and Governor Jennifer Granholm. Heck, why not shoot one over to our friends Senator Carl Levin and Senator Debbie Stabenow?

We need to form a small committee to put together an informational rally (maybe including a fun concert on the water) in September when a few experts on this issue will be here. Awareness must be raised about the shady business dealings of Chesapeake and the raw deal landowners are getting when they lease their land for natural gas drilling.

If you are as concerned as I am and want to help get organized our communities organized to resist exploitation by unscrupulous companies like Halliburton and Chesapeake, please drop me a note robynn.james@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Robynn