African Network TV is a local station in Gainesville that is broadcast globally to all continents of the world- Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia- with strong audiences in the Middle East, Australia and Africa. Manager and Director Victor Okorochukwu, from Nigeria, has a weekly show called Global Snapshot produced by Doug Clifford, who had as his guest today OSFR President Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson.
Clifford’s show tends toward current political and environmental issues which is why he invited President Malwitz-Jipson to give a breakdown of the current hot-button controversy over fracking in Florida and related issues of water conservation and other issues affecting our environment.
The interview began with an explanation by Malwitz-Jipson of what fracking is and the inherent dangers to humans and other living things due to the poisons injected into the earth, and also the immense environmental abuses caused by the procedure, including the huge amounts of water required, the problem of disposal of waste water, the methane leakage into the aquifer and atmosphere, the poisons left behind in the earth, the earthquakes caused by the injection of wastewater back underground, and the excessive and polluting truck traffic to bring water to the site and take wastewater and product away from the site.
Clifford was well aware of the current pro-fracking bills before the Legislature in Tallahassee, and the will of the people of Florida who have clearly expressed their disapproval of fracking, and the total disregard by the politicians of our state who have literally turned their backs on their constituents, walked out of the room when voters are making their plea, and silenced those who have driven miles to protest this killing of our planet, disallowing any comment.
President Malwitz-Jipson has witnessed all of this and more in recent committee meetings in Tallahassee where Our Santa Fe River and many other groups who are concerned with our aquifer continue to strive to bring some reason where none exists.
More discussion ensued concerning the recent trend to fight fracking, not only in this country, but world-wide, with Scotland being the most recent addition to those countries which ban it completely.
The program was rounded out with the discussion of the growing problem of water scarcity and how it is related to the social, moral and ethical responsibilities we all have regarding our planet’s inability to sustain our current consumptive uses of all materials, not just water. President Malwitz-Jipson has a deep and comprehensive understanding of these issues and a unique ability to express them in a way in which her audience can grasp and to which they can relate.
