Peter Deutsch – 7/28/10

This page was last updated on July 28, 2010.

Evaluate carefully before drilling; Peter Deutsch; Beaver County Times; July 28, 2010.

Though Mr. Deutsch occasionally signs his letters “Dr. Deutsch,” he is not a medical doctor. Mr. Deutsch has a Ph.D. in physics and is a physics instructor at Penn State – Beaver Campus (Center Township). Mr. Deutsch was involved with the now apparently defunct Beaver County Coalition for Social Justice and is now involved with Progressive Democrats of America – PA 4th Congressional District Chapter, run by mostly the same folks who ran BCCSJ.

Critiques of previous letters from Mr. Deutsch are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

In his previous letters, Mr. Deutsch supported John Kerry in the 2004 campaign, wrote at least three letters dumping on voting machines, and wrote another saying to bring home the troops. Mr. Deutsch was an apologist for a John Kerry comment about the military saying, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” As far back as 2007, Mr. Deutsch lobbied for a government-run, taxpayer-funded healthcare monopoly.

Before you read Mr. Deutsch’s letter, consider the following comment he made on the forum (August 23, 2005) for the Beaver County Coalition for Social Justice regarding the voting machine issue: “Perhaps provoking them [election officials] with stretched truths is an apporpriate [sic] tactic. But let’s see it for what it is … a tactic.” When do “stretched truths” become lies?

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale must be done with careful attention to safety if it is to done at all.”

[RWC] As I’ve written previously, companies harvesting our natural resources must do so in a responsible manner and must have the financial and technological wherewithal to handle worst-case scenarios. It is government’s responsibility to enforce these rules and to make sure everyone involved [businesses and government (local, state, federal)] is prepared (via drills, for example) to execute disaster plans. That’s not what this letter is really about, however.

This letter is about the religion of manmade global warming. Knowing the manmade global warming myth is increasingly falling on deaf ears, followers of this faith are trying to use safety as a backdoor to stop drilling and production of Marcellus natural gas. You can find another example here.

“It is very different from the hydraulic fracturing that has been done for many years with older methods. Many of the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing liquid are not enumerated by the fracking companies and have not undergone long-term testing for their impacts on life and on the environment.

“Yet there is evidence - see, for example, the work of Dr. Theo Colborn, who has evaluated endocrine disrupting chemicals - of much potential harm to people and animals.”

[RWC] Pretty much all you need to know about Ms. Colburn can be found in her biography on the Architects of Peace Foundation website.

“Please do not drill before careful evaluation. The natural gas has been in the Marcellus Shale for millions of years. It’s in no hurry to move. Drilling can wait while safety issues are explored.

“Thank [sic] to the Beaver Area school board member for raising concerns about drilling in the Marcellus Shale and methods used here. Catastrophic harm can occur. In fact, it already has occurred.”

[RWC] Here’s what Mr. Deutsch didn’t tell us about “the Beaver Area school board member … raising concerns.” According to a Times story, “board member Deborah Hogue exploded when [district business manager Vic] Raskovsky asked the board to authorize its facilities committee to merely study the proposal.” Ms. Hogue was the only board member to vote against performing a “careful evaluation.” Mr. Deutsch wasn’t thanking Ms. Hogue “for raising concerns,” he was thanking her for opposition to drilling before knowing any of the facts. This appears to indicate Mr. Deutsch is more interested in shutting down drilling than in “careful evaluation.”