Last week  the Science, Space and Technology Committee, in a hearing titled  Examining the Science of EPA Overreach: A Case Study in Texas, denied the scientific evidence that proves unconventional drilling and fracking contaminated ground water in Parker County, Texas.

Sound familiar?

It should, because the same committee attacked the EPA and their scientific evidence that proved unconventional drilling and fracking contaminated ground water in Pavilion, Wyoming two years ago.

Our video of the week is a flashback to Josh’s appearance on Democracy Now! after he was arrested for trying to cover that congressional hearing two years ago.

It was strange to be in the exact same room that I’ve seen in footage of Josh getting arrested so many times.

But even more so, it was incredibly disheartening to be there last week with Steve and Shyla Lipsky, almost two years to the day that Josh got arrested, and see that so little has changed.

Josh Fox and Steve & Shyla Lipsky at congressional hearing

Two years ago, Josh was hopefully that the EPA would stand up for families in Pavilion, Wyoming and Dimock, Pennsylvania and stand up for the truth the science in those cases proved. Today, the EPA has walked away from those cases and the families in Parker County, Texas.

The EPA has abandoned them, but these families from Parker County, Pavilion and Dimock are not giving up on the truth and the justice they know should be promised to them in our country. Directly following the hearing, they met with members of congress and held a briefing to share what it’s been like for them to live in Gasland.

Steve and Shyla Lipsky meeting with congressional staff

Ray Kemble, Dimock, Pennsylvania resident, speaking at the EPA Fracking Investigations: A Community Perspective briefing

Because of them, I still have hope.

-Lee Ziesche, Gasland Grassroots Coordinator