All too cozy

Remember the Marcellus Shale? It's still out there - or, rather, under there - with "there" being a good portion of the state. And moves continue to make Pennsylvania's government a near-wholly-owned subsidiary of the industry that is working to remove natural gas from that shale at significant profit. We know about the political contributions made by the industry to Gov. Tom Corbett. We know industry insiders are populating the supposed "oversight" boards. We know there is resistance to any form of state-levied gas-extraction tax. All should be already enough to make all Pennsylvanians, and particularly those living in the extraction zone and downsteam, nervous. A rush to profit with tame politicians bought and paid for. Now it gets worse. Leaked email from the state Department of Environmental Protection has directed inspectors policing Marcellus Shale activities now must receive prior approval from high-level superiors (read that political employees beholden to the industry the inspectors need to police) before taking any kind of enforcement action. read MORE