Furthering their goal to “ban fracking everywhere,” activists at Food and Water Watch recently posed as concerned parents to fight responsible natural gas development in Elizabeth Township, Pa.

Despite decades of objective research confirming shale development poses no risk to public health or the environment, the organization convinced KDKA News that area residents and school parents were fighting plans by Olympus Energy to produce natural gas more than a half-mile from the high school’s property.

“The facts are on our side; it’s being done safely and responsibly,” MSC’s Dave Callahan explained to KDKA, describing the industry’s impressive track record of producing, transporting and utilizing natural gas in Pennsylvania.

Conveniently, the lead opponent of the plans is paid to drum up opposition in the region as the Southwestern Pennsylvania director for the activist organization. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first attempt to mislead the public in efforts to further radical, anti-natural gas agendas.

Food & Water Watch has received more than $1 million in the last few years alone from the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Endowments. It’s no secret Heinz has a longstanding history of opposing fossil fuel development and has been working behind the scenes to ban natural gas in Pennsylvania and across the country.

Their playbook is simple: fund activist organizations, costly and time-consuming litigation, biased and misleading research, and the media sources that report so-called “news” on our industry through a distorted lens. Most recently, this work was witnessed through a coordinated effort to support Allegheny County’s prohibition of natural gas development beneath county parks.

READ MORE: Shedding Sunlight on Anti-Energy Activism

Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry is held to some of the toughest regulatory standards in the country, and operators are intent on producing, transporting, and delivering the energy that powers modern life in the safest and most efficient way possible. To underpin this commitment to environmental stewardship, many companies are working with independent organizations to certify operations as responsibly done, as well as participating in voluntary partnerships to reduce emissions.

As an industry comprised of engineers, environmentalists and safety experts who live in the very communities in which we operate, we take the facts and science seriously.

Part of our commitment to the facts is ensuring the public understands the motivations of certain organizations that peddle misinformation and fear – all aimed at driving clicks and achieving outcomes pushed by their millionaire funders.

To learn more about the safe, responsible development of natural gas, and to separate fact from fiction, please click on the links below: