Before the gubernatorial candidates started volleying debate points, citizens were volleying protest slogans. Outside of the WBFO-WNED studios, shouts for second amendment rights – mostly aimed at Governor Cuomo – were just as loud as chants against fracking for natural gas.
One of the voices behind those chants was that of John Washington.
He’s a community organizer for People United for Sustainable Housing, better known as PUSH Buffalo. It’s a group that builds houses heated with geothermal energy. Washington says there’s no need to frack for natural gas when geothermal heat is far more effective and less detrimental to the environment. He sees it as a new way forward…
“You’re really going to be able to set a trend for the rest of the country in using nature to create real green energy and green jobs.” --John Washington, Community Organizer, PUSH Buffalo
Washington says geothermal heating is a way to sustain those jobs. He points out that fracking is an industry that moves to wherever the resources are, and moves again when they’re gone, taking jobs with it. He says PUSH Buffalo doesn’t take a position on the political candidates, just on the issues, and that they try to do what they can to create alternatives.