Community Denounces Collusion between Elected Officials, Industry and Local Media as Impediments to the Democratic Process
JOHNSON CO., Ill.—The following is a press release from the group organized in Johnson County, Illinois, to take the initiative and stop fracking in their county.
On Tuesday, March 18, Johnson County citizens learned that the ballot question, asking county citizens if they want to assert their right to local self-government to ban fracking, did not pass.
Over the course of the past few months, local residents worked tirelessly to educate our fellow county citizens about the dangers of fracking and the need to protect our rights. We are a group of local residents who volunteer our time and energy out of love for our community.
The community is disappointed, but not surprised, at this loss, given the obvious collusion between local and state elected officials, the industry, and the media to impede the democratic process. Our own county Commissioners Henshaw and Stewart, who originally asked for this vote, engaged in blatant unethical behavior by openly lobbying against us. Local media outlets the Vienna Times and the Goreville Gazette blacked us out of their publications. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce bankrolled this effort with over $23,000 dollars. And recent events lead us to believe the Illinois Petroleum Council helped organize the opposition here in the county.
Community member Kris Pirmann notes that “It’s been very frustrating for our group of local community members to compete against such a well-funded and well-organized effort to drown our voices out. We are people wanting the right to protect our health and property from fracking by bringing that choice back home to Johnson County. The ballot referendum may have failed, but I feel this points to an over-arching issue: our democratic process is in peril. Without a free play of ideas or point-counterpoint discussion, our voice was effectively silenced with no real avenue for rebuttal. There is a very subtle difference between opposition to an idea and suppression of that idea. Democracy cannot work if it is the latter.”
Notes Phyllis Oliver, a Johnson County resident, “I never expected the petroleum industry to generate such fear [in the community] … This tells me they don’t have the facts to defend themselves, so they’re using fear and misinformation to get people fighting each other. And if we’re fighting each other, we’re not looking at the real issue: fracking.”
Oliver points out that “Now the next step is teaching our people that we can change things, and that we have the power to do so if we stand up for our rights. I think people have forgotten that.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jerry Goddard – (618) 771-2587