Pete Seeger, age 94, died on January 27. At age 29 he became a member of the preeminent folk music group, The Weavers, who were blacklisted in the mid 1950's because of their political views, primarily Pete's. After The Weavers, he played the banjo and continued to sing folk and protest songs almost until his death. He was married for 70 years to Toshi, who died seven months before him. They had four children, one of whom died in infancy.

Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) continues to be in the news. Using water, sand and chemicals, both natural gas and oil are being recovered by fracking in ever larger amounts from shale deposits throughout the country. Fracking has seen limited use in Southwestern Virginia to recover coal bed methane. It's also under consideration for use in Marcellus Shale deposits along the Virginia-West Virginia border. A company is expressing interest in drilling an exploratory well in Rockingham County.

I first encountered The Weaver's music in the late 1950's. The Kingston Trio who became well known in the late 1950's was essentially a knock-off of The Weavers but without the associated controversy. Many of the Kingston's songs had previously been recorded by The Weavers. It was through my love for Kingston's songs, that I became aware of The Weavers and Pete. I soon realized that, for me, their music was even better than that of the Kingston's. I continued to love Pete's music after he left The Weavers.

Fracking uses water, lots of water. It's said that to frack a well in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania requires 3 to 6 million gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals. That is a LOT of water. Fortunately water for fracking usually is available in Pennsylvania where annual precipitation may average 35-40 inches per year.

Pete was an advocate his entire life. He was extremely vocal regarding the causes he embraced and used his music to support such causes as worker rights, civil rights, world peace, and environmental conservation. Strongly believing in the latter, he and Toshi lived modestly in a cabin overlooking the Hudson River in New York. Pete built the cabin himself.

Water is not as available in other areas of the U. S. where fracking is being used. For example, in areas of North Dakota and Montana where fracking is used to liberate oil from the Bakken Formation, the average annual precipitation is 10-15 inches per year. A USA Today article on February 5 indicated that 36 percent of the 39,000 wells drilled in the United States since 2011 were in areas experiencing groundwater depletion and over half were in drought stricken areas. As even more wells are drilled, will water for fracking be available?

In 1966, because of his concern for water pollution, Pete co-founded the environmental group, Hudson River Clearwater Sloop. The purpose of the group was to highlight the pollution of his beloved Hudson River and to work to clean it up.

Fracking remains highly controversial. Entire communities have been impacted both positively and negatively as a result of the wells drilled in their vicinity. The positive economic consequences for communities may be profound, but the negative impact on the social fabric of the communities may be equally profound.

I've never heard that Pete Seeger offered his thoughts on fracking. Because he always strongly supported environmental conservation and clean water, I can only surmise that Pete's thoughts would have been something like this. Sure, on the positive side, fracking may create jobs and ultimately make the United States independent of foreign oil imports for many years to come. But what might be the price? What are the environmental consequences? What are the social costs? What about water shortages and the possibilities of serious water contamination? How can we properly evaluate the benefits given the environmental concerns?

I wrote a song in the 1960's, "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" that has been interpreted by some as urging caution on Vietnam. It's no different with fracking. My mantra on fracking would be, "go slow, go slow."

Rest in peace, Pete. Those of us who loved your music and your involvement in environmental concerns will miss you greatly.