Key takeaways from the Pennsylvania Senate debate between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz
by Walter Tsou, MD, MPH
In their debate, both candidates gave ringing endorsements of fracking. Neither acknowledged the multiple public health studies showing a direct correlation between proximity to fracking wells and low birth weight babies, childhood leukemia, asthma hospitalizations or the cluster of rare Ewing sarcoma cases in Southwestern PA. In 2020, the Attorney General’s grand jury report gave a scathing rebuke of the lack of regulation of the fracking industry by all our elected leaders and departments.
In April 2022, the 8th edition of the Compendium of Scientific, Medical and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking listed over 2,000 citations of health consequences of fracking. Fracking is not safe for those who live near wells, and it is the wrong direction for a warming planet that needs to stop burning fossil fuels.
Originally posted in the Philadelphia Inquirer, October 31, 2022