Joan Jett switches from Macy"s South Dakota float after protest

A trade group for ranchers in South Dakota complained about Joan Jett’s placement on the state’s float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

• NEW: Jett says she wants to be on another float because of “people’s political agendas”


• Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are kicked off the float after cattlemen protest to Macy’s


• “We were rightly concerned about her representing South Dakota,” ranchers’ rep says


• Jett supports PETA, which says “the meat trade can’t stand any scrutiny of its cruelty”

(CNN) — Rock star Joan Jett was removed from a parade float representing South Dakota in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade after ranchers protested her appearance, saying she’s a vegetarian and a critic of their livestock production.

Jett is a supporter of People for the Ethic Treatment of Animals, the world’s largest animal rights group that promotes a vegetarian diet and condemns factory farms and ranches.

“I’ve decided to switch from South Dakota to another float because people’s political agendas were getting in the way of what should be a purely entertainment driven event,” Jett said in a statement Saturday. “I will remain focused on entertaining the millions of people watching, who will be celebrating a great American tradition.”

The trade group for ranchers in South Dakota complained about Jett’s placement on the state’s float, CNN affiliate KEVN reported.

“So, of course, when we learned that about Miss Jett, we were rightly concerned about her representing South Dakota and a state that is so heavily reliant on agriculture and livestock production to drive our economy,” Jodie Anderson of the South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association said, according to the station.

A Macy’s spokesman said Jett and her Blackhearts band will be moved to another float, and another undetermined performer will take Jett’s place on the South Dakota float, the affiliate said.

A PETA leader said the controversy reflected what the group deems as problems in the cattle industry.

“Thanks to South Dakota’s reactionary ranchers, people across the country have learned why Joan Jett supports PETA. The meat trade can’t stand any scrutiny of its cruelty,” PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews said in a statement.

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Joan Jett switches from Macy"s South Dakota float after protest

Fracking alert: New York switches to shale gas

Published time: October 25, 2013 15:35

The midtown New York City skyline (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

The US shale revolution has reached the Big Apple, where on Nov. 1 the first gas pipeline in 40 years will be completed in its meatpacking district. While politicians and firms are hungry for cheap gas, residents fear fracking and eco-damage.

The cheaper gas will run from the Marcellus shale field in Pennsylvania to about 2 million homes in Manhattan. 

The $ 1.2 billion pipeline, built by Houston-based Spectra Energy, will supply an estimated 800 million cubic feet a day of gas from the country’s fastest growing gas deposit, in Pennsylvania, and elsewhere across the Hudson River, into Manhattan, the Financial Times reports.

The need to replace expensive and dirty heating oil has long been voiced by policymakers, with the city’s outgoing mayor, Michael Bloomberg, putting gas high on his administration’s agenda. The city has underlined a “critical need for additional natural gas capacity” in its long-term urban plan.  

“With gas prices nearing historic lows and expected to remain below oil prices for some time, building owners have the unique opportunity to upgrade their heating systems while generating a return on their investment,” the city’s plan said.    

“This is a very simple equation: the more buildings that switch to gas, the more fracking will happen,”   Sane Energy, a pipeline opposition group, wrote in a letter to federal regulators.

Under the plan, landlords will be legally forbidden from burning No. 6 heavy fuel oil from 2015, which has led many to already shift to gas. 

While the pipeline has been welcomed by many policymakers, residents fear the project could cause an explosion and environmental contamination.

The pipeline runs from New Jersey under the Hudson River and enters Manhattan at 10th Avenue and Gansevoort Street, stretching up to 15th Street. The area around Hudson River Park could see increased development in the coming years — leaving more people vulnerable to a potential explosion.

New York’s move also comes at a time when the state government is thinking about lifting a ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which critics say contaminates water with large volumes of toxic waste and releases potential greenhouse gas methane, causing cancer.

It’s estimated that northeastern US fields will supply 90 percent of New York gas in 2030, compared to 13 per cent in 2005. Some 29 per cent of city homes are oil-heated, while the share of oil heating share nationally is 6 percent, according to the Energy Information Administration. Gas is 65 per cent cheaper than oil, according to Con Edison, the New York utility.

But ecology groups fear that the drive for gas profits will inevitably lead to harmful fracking.

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Fracking alert: New York switches to shale gas