Former PA Gov. Tom Ridge Says NYT Spreading Disinformation

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Former PA Governor Tom Ridge has a new role as spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition. In that role, he met yesterday with local political officials and reporters in Canonsburg, PA, near Pittsburgh. He had some common sense words for those in the audience:

“You cannot eliminate the risk from anything you do,” said Ridge, who was casually dressed in jeans, a blue turtleneck and a blue button-down shirt. “Airplanes crash because pilots make bad judgments, but we don’t stop flying.”(1)

He also said there needs to be more openness on the part of the gas industry:

Mr. Ridge told the group—which included local state representatives, township supervisors and aides to congressional representatives—that the coalition hopes that even “if there are missteps, acknowledge it, correct it.”(2)

As for The New York Times articles accusing Pennsylvania of lax standards and radioactive wastewater pollution of its freshwater supplies:

Ridge dismissed the New York Times articles as “a little bit of disinformation,” and said they had “a little bit of a credibility problem.” He insisted that, in the natural gas industry, “we like clean water, we like clean air,” and that solar and wind technology would not generate sufficient energy to meet the country’s needs “for another two or three generations.”(1)

(1) Observer-Reporter (Mar 4) – Ridge on drilling: You can’t eliminate the risk

(2) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Mar 4) – Industry openness called essential

One Comment

  1. Tom Ridge knows a “little bit” about hydro fracturing…. just a little bit. Here’s a guy who peddles influence for money… who has a track record of being ‘bought’ by the most corrupt crime organization on the planet (Cheney-Bush Inc.). And now he’s using his clean cut, all american image to whore for the Marcellus Shale Coalition.
    I love it.