The earth belongs to no one

By JOANNE WASSERMAN

Gas drilling is not a harmless activity. Read all of the latest available facts. There are enough to fill volumes. The issue goes deep, to the very essence of our American values, to our so-called “inalienable rights.”

But whose rights? Some people believe that their property rights give them absolute control over what’s “theirs.” They think they can do anything with their land, even if those actions hurt others and abuse or harm our environment. However, historically, property rights do not include uses that adversely impact the property rights of another private party or uses that unreasonably interfere with public property rights, including uses that denigrate public health, safety or quiet enjoyment.

The U.S. Constitution does not give property owners the right to abuse the land or to use their property in a way that hurts others. Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote, “The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say, ‘this is mine,’ and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of civil society. What crimes, wars, murders, miseries and horrors would the human race have been spared, had someone pulled up the stakes, filled in the ditch and cried out to his fellow men: ‘Do not listen to this impostor. You are lost if you forget that the fruits of the earth belong to all and the earth to no one!’”

Rousseau argued that property rights divide man by focusing on self-interest and greed rather than on the good of society. This is in keeping with a Native American idea that the Earth does not belong to man, but rather man belongs to Earth. Do individual property owners have the right to allow their land to be used in ways that pollute our shared air and soil, contaminate our water with chemicals, industrialize our landscape, kill our wildlife, subject us to excessive noise and light, disrupt our daily activities, compromise our health, decrease our property values and diminish our quality of life? Can the well-documented, noxious effects of gas drilling be confined within the boundaries of a lessor’s property? Can the polluting effects of open vaporization pits, non-stop diesel engines, road-destroying tractor-trailer traffic and other byproducts of heavy industry be contained so that neighborhoods, waterways and entire geographic areas aren’t adversely affected?

Of course not. While these issues are important wherever drilling is contemplated, it has special significance in the Upper Delaware River Watershed. The National Park Service describes the Upper Delaware on its website ((www.nps.gov)): “Rolling hills, riverfront villages, and bald eagles perched on trees form a vibrant backdrop as the Delaware River snakes gracefully through the rural countryside. But the story of the Upper Delaware is more than just a collection of beautiful pictures. We enjoy the river’s recreational opportunities while it supports a healthy ecosystem for wildlife and provides water for over 17 million people.”

The National Wild & Scenic Rivers Act says: “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the U.S. that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved… and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.”

Legal measures alone will never solve the problems we are facing, especially as respects gas drilling. It is easy for everyone to oppose the power lines because no individual property owner stands to gain from this venture. But when property owners can realize windfall profits from the far more serious activities of gas drilling, we suddenly become a community divided. Here is where the legal right becomes a moral issue. If we lose respect for the rights of all beings and for the well being of our planet, we will continue to face more threats to our very existence. Ruination of the shared rights to unspoiled air, soil and water by private property owners in the Delaware watershed, whose land is perched atop the Marcellus Shale, is not acceptable and must not be allowed. There may be those who are struggling to make ends meet and the money from a gas lease looks like a gift horse. But at what price?

There is a Native American quote that says “continue to contaminate your bed, and one night you will suffocate in your own waste.” If we surrender our communities to gas drilling, this will have become prophecy.

(Joanne Wasserman has been a full-time resident of the Upper Delaware area for 35 years, and has lived in Milanville, PA for the past 13 years. She is involved in a number of grassroots environmentally concerned organizations such as the Upper Delaware Community Network and the Upper Delaware Preservation Coalition.)

Also in this issue:

• Towns must take the lead in restoring tax rolls

Dr. Punnybone

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