What? You mean they didn’t test the effects before they let the gas companies drill wherever they want?
Guthrie Health and the Geisinger Health System have joined together to study the health impact of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.
The study by the two regional health care systems — Guthrie, in Sayre, and Geisinger, in Danville, Pa. — will include development of a health surveillance network that will make patient data available for research purposes.
Health effects that may be investigated first include asthma, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Preliminary results of data analysis may be released within the next year, while other aspects of the research will unfold over the the next five to 15 years, health care officials said.
The long-term goal of the Guthrie/Geisinger study is to learn whether gas operations increase the incidence of diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Researchers also will want to determine whether air pollutants associated with gas drilling are affecting people with asthma and other lung problems.
Why would Dick Cheney care about scientific evidence? Or any set of facts presented to him by any group of experts about anything? Profit good, People bad. Every Capitalist alive and dead knows that the Ludites were right.