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Fracking signs free as the wind
(by Dave Lange - May 30, 2012)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Fracking signs free as the wind
Driving along Munn Road, I was struck by a couple of signs posted in front yards -- but not quite in the same way that they struck a resident who complained about them to Auburn Township Trustees.
The little signs read, "Frack on."
How sweet, I thought. Much nicer than "Frack off," "Frack up" or "Frack you," although "Frack down" would be more accurate, "Frack in" might recall images of the 1960s in San Francisco, and "Fracking around" tends to be the government position on this issue.
Of course, we're talking about hydraulic fracturing, the kind that uses millions of gallons of pressurized water and unaccountable chemicals to drill a mile down into the earth and then more miles every which way to tap into the oil and gas that was created for human consumption in pockets of Utica shale 12,000 years ago, or maybe even before that.
Curiously, I didn't see any signs reading, "Blow on," "Blow up," "Blow down," "Blow in the wind" or any other kind of blowing. That would be in reference to the Wind in the Woods horse farm, whose owners have been prohibited by Auburn officials from erecting a small wind turbine on their property, even though the wind was created in the beginning.
At any rate, having resolved the blowing question by permitting two 150-foot-high wind turbines for a business operating as a conditional use in a residential neighborhood but not one 120-foot-high wind turbine for an agricultural use in a somewhat different residential neighborhood, Auburn Trustees would rather duck, or quack, the fracking question.
Even though local leaders in many other communities, including nearby Chester Township and Burton village, have passed resolutions, as local leaders sometimes do, urging the state government to more fully consider the many safety concerns surrounding fracking before drilling to the point of no return, Auburn Trustees would rather play it on the safe side -- politically speaking anyway.
After all, we all use oil and gas, no matter which way the wind blows, some landowners have dollar signs in their eyes, no matter how many earthquakes occur in Mahoning County or water wells are spoiled in Bainbridge, and there is the matter of those "Frack on" signs.
If they were to be considered commercial, as in advertising a business or service, they would be subject to township permits and fees -- although other townships, such as Bainbridge, are quite tolerant of yellow signs that pop up to advertise furniture stores going out of business repeatedly and hot tubs going at bargain-basement prices.
Personally, I wouldn't consider them to be commercial messages, unless they read, "Frack on with Chesapeake Energy" or "Frack down with Enervest Ltd.," for example. Similarly, if Auburn residents wished to post signs reading, "Drink beer," "Chew tobacco," "Eat pork" or "Fill up with gas," they should get a pass. But "Get drunk with Coors," "Rot your gums on Skoal," "Fatten up with Sugardale" or "Drive faster with Sunoco" might be pushing it.
Political messages, however, are a matter of free speech, and fracking most certainly has become a political issue here in Eastern Ohio and other states. Some people see oil, gas and easy money as gifts from God, while others see clean water, clear air and green energy as -- imagine this -- gifts from God.
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