A conservation group is questioning some people who came to a public hearing in western North Carolina to support fracking. The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League has a video showing that the group of supporters from Winston-Salem seemed to know very little about the issue at the hearing late last week in Cullowhee.
This happened at a meeting of the state Mining and Energy Commission at Western Carolina University. It was one of four statewide meetings to gather comments from the public about rules for shale gas exploration in North Carolina.
The controversy comes from the 30 fracking supporters bussed in by the North Carolina Energy Forum, supported by the American Petroleum Institute. Some of the men sporting “Shale Yes” T-shirts seemed confused about why they were in Cullowhee.
The Sylva Herald reports that one man supporting fracking said he stays in a Winston-Salem homeless shelter and came on the bus because he was told fracking would help the environment. He added that he did not know much about the process.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports that Algenon Cash, chairman of the North Carolina Energy Forum, says when he found that there was an issue with the bussed-in people, he sent the bus back to Winston-Salem. Cash said he would set some clear rules on recruitment before attending similar events.
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