The People's Protest (Written For Burns Day,2015) Poem by Paddy Scott Hogg

When activists tak tae the street
An’ activists at Grangemooth meet;
As Janwar days are wearin’ late,
We bring oor rally tae this gate:
Oor expose of Tory lies
Tae steek their plans as unwise
They say ‘Cheap gas’ an’ jobs for a’
Like manna fae the Heaven’s fa’!
‘T’s fact, Lord Browne has paid them weel
‘Flat out for shale’ an’ a’ that spiel.
Five hunner grand’s a bribe, corrupt
We’re here tae protest, no’ disrupt.

Let’s examine the Evidence
Tae see if what they say maks sense.
Are 3D geo survey’s done
To map whar seismic fault lines run?
Whit does hydrogeology show -
Whar, underground, dis water flow?
Is there ae risk fae auld coal mines
Subsidence danger - what’s the signs?
Drill horizontal thru coal seams?
That’s takin risk tae new extremes!
There’s mony auld coal-mines unlisted
So, CBM must be resisted!
Wi risk ye canny be blasé!
A sink-hole in a motorway!
Or ‘water water everywhere’
But no’ a drap tae drink or spare!
The laws o’ probability
Increase risk wi’ volatility;
Are these risk factors a’ array’d
When risk assessments judgements’ made?
Na! This data isny gether’d
Science’s run awa’ untether’d!
Ken this, absence o’ evidence
Isny evidence o’ absence!
Noo here’s a truth nae lie can shun
YE CANT REGULATE BELOW THE GRUN!

Noo let’s examine drilling wells
Tae see whit myths the facts dispels?
Guid evidence, it’s peer-reviewed
Proves safety claims are hyped an’ skew’d
The majority o’ wells leak!
This fact, is in ae fine critique
By Professor Ingraffea
Wha, on this subject, has nae peer.
They talk o’ well ‘int-eg-ri-ty’
But wells leak whar we canna see
So fugitive emissions escape
Cement will crack an rip an’ gape.
Drill twa miles east or twa miles west
O’er the area, nae leakage test!
Through complex geologic ways
An’ aquifers gas finds ae space
Disturb its source and UP it comes
Like smoke oot o’ yer reeking lums.
So, gas will leak whar nae-wan knows
Cos water flows whar water goes.

Tae fracking fluids, noo turn yer ee,
And in the toxic brew, ye’ll see
A wheen o known carcinogens
Then zoom in further wi the lense
Fae arsenic tae formaldehyde
Fae benzene tae benzyl chloride
Fae silica tae propant sand
Injected poisons in our land!
A toxic brew, in eruption
Gushing endocrine disruption:
They blast it in, tae fracture there
But whar it gans, they just don’t care!
Sae by ae route o’ pathways rent
Bi leak an’ seepage, fluid spent,
It gets intae the watercourse
An’ tae oor reservoir it pours.
Then fu’, intae the gless ye drink
Fae water-tank tae kitchen-sink.
Turn oan yer tap an’ licht yer flame
If it builds up, it’s Boom! nae hame!
Nae scientific test regime
Fir radioactive NORMS doonstream!
Waste-water contamination
Inhaled via evaporation
Or carried in the wind as spores
Polluting air we breathe outdoors
Will carry toxins tae yer lungs
Cause red-raw, swollen tender tongues
An’ birth defects or cancers spread
As Prof Andrew Watterson has said.
Lang took fir grant’t, noo we fear
Fir drinkin’ water, pure and clear.

Now, whun the environment’s assessed
Some water an’ fauna they test -
Otters an’ badgers are surveyed
On line, or face-to-face, it’s said
Ae badger said the ither nicht
‘Whits hapent tae yer human richts’
The otter said ‘It’s upside doon
Im wi the humans this time roon’ -
Since human health assessment’s missed
Oor health an’ safety’s a game o’ twist;
‘The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley’, time an’ again.
Oan paper, every theory’s grand
It’s the real world ye can’t command.
Hence, ‘Gold standard regulation’
Is a rouse upon oor nation.
The inviolate laws o Science
Prove Entropy rules in defiance!

So whun things gang wrang, as they must
Should we gae private greed oor trust?
Rules allow the corporations
Self-reporting regulations!
So we’re tae Hope that They confess
Nae major accidents suppress
Nor hide the earthquakes they cause
Nor break environmental laws!
I wadna gae a thief such reign
Unmuzzl’d greed wi nae restrain.
Na, ae best Civil Action Plan -
Protect the people – Wi a BAN.

Lang syne, the states had rights held dear
What’s over there is coming here!
A hunner thoosan’ ill or harmed
So why should we be sae alarmed?
At least o’er there, ae tide his turned
Concerned communities hae learn’d
Put pressure oan politicians
Tae curb corporate ambitions!
Engineering is generic
Oor problems may be less numeric
It’s guaranteed they will occur
Guid logic says we must demur.
Like Florida or New York state:
Ban it here - before it’s too late!

Underground gasification?
Hell’s-furnace ablow oor nation!
Rapacious vultures, slash-an’-burn
Scotia’s ashes - pit in an urn!
Nae carbon capture tae restrain!
E’en Satan isnae sae insane!
Mammon’s venal slaves, turn hither
Ye’ve tint yer Reason a’ thegither!
Beyond the Gates o’ Hell they’d dare.
Is naewhar sacred ony mair?
Greed’s hellish legions pour an’ gore
They’d buy and sell the earth’s core!
Investment shares and dividends
Oor assets in their pockets end! ! !
Oor richts stripped back by corrupt laws
The profit, theirs – we pay the loss!
Grand theft on a national scale
Gung-ho gangsters ‘flat out for shale’!
See it! hear it! an’ smell its breath:
The Neo-Liberal kiss o’ death!

Beneath the Heaven’s perfect blue
There’s energy we can renew:
Ae greatest source is licht an’ heat
Fir solar rays oor sun’s replete
It’s free, it’s oors, sae panels build:
The jobs await – oor people skilled.
There’s birnies row an’ river’s flow
There’s tidal waves an’ winds that blow
A’ this energy IS FOR FREE
The win’, the river, tide an’ sea
Its time tae harness Nature’s power
An’ gauge her kilowatts per hour.
Enhance electrification
Scotland’s wind an’ hydro-nation
Invest in what is safe an’ green
Fir climate justice, carbon clean.

All hail Maria’s lang hard fight
Guid folks o Airth whas truth is might
All hail guid folks o’ Canonbie
Joan’s fightin fir ye a’ the way
The broad alliance, united, strong
Freens o’ the Earth hae led the throng
The country’s rallied tae yer cause
And we at HUGE gae oor applause!

Oor focus now - the consultation
Activists in agitation
Write, email, sign OUR petition
Raise banners in opposition
Resolve wi facts in Science schooled
Our case, by Reason fired an’ cool’d
Confront the power of Big Oil
Eyeball-to eye-ball, ne’er recoil
A moratorium’s a halt
Rally for the final assault
Let politicians ken oor views
This is a war we cannot lose
Defend yer hame wi’ heart an’ mind
The earth is sky and a’ mankind
Holistic, One, this pale blue dot
A fragile hame, oor stewardship fraught
Real ‘caution’ is wise and simple
A precautionary principle
Err oan the side o’ human health
No’ oan the side o’ private wealth
Yer public duty, don’t neglect
Square yer conscience an’ intellect -
Its time tae end this Tory plan
The People Want an all out BAN! ! !