Josh Fox and his team plans to tour the new film to 100 cities and towns that are considered “hot spots” for fossil fuel infrastructure. He plans to screen the film for FREE and host post-film conversation with each community on the concrete next-steps for fighting the gas & oil industry in their cities/towns.

To raise funds for the LET GO AND LOVE Tour, Josh and his team are running a grassroots Kickstarter campaign. To reach these 100 cities & towns it will cost $100K. It is our hope that our GASLAND community and beyond will pledge their support to the Kickstarter campaign so that we can continue the necessary work that we started with GASLAND.

Our community of supporters is ever-growing! You’ll see below, James Cromwell shares what he’s fighting for in the face of climate change. Won’t you join him?

Please watch and share our Video of the Week: Shalefield Stories Vol. 2

Two of the accounts in Shalefield Stories are about the tragic working conditions in the oil and gas fields. These stories are also featured in Josh Fox’s powerful short, GASWORK, The Fight for C.J.’s Law.

More people need to hear these stories. The folks living on the frontlines of fracking need your help.

 Get your copy of Shalefield Stories Vol. 2

About Friends of the Harmed & Shalefeld Stories:

Friends of the Harmed, a non-profit project of the Thomas Merton Center, compiled and published the latest periodical of Shalefield Stories, Vol 2. Knicknamed the “Good Samaritans of Fracking” by the Baltimore Fishbowl, (www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/frackings-good-samaritans/ ) their citizen journalists and volunteers collaborate with public-health researchers, environmental organizations, and grassroots groups to bring their work and truth about fracking to the public. Our families share their struggles in hopes of others not having to suffer the same fate.

Direct aid to affected individuals and families in SWPA is made possible through public donations for the book and their volunteer fieldwork. Friends of the Harmed, a small non profit that working in the heart of the Marcellus Gasfields of Southwest PA, is devoted to raising awareness and funds to combat the negative affects of fracking on communities’ health and democracy. All of the donations raised from Shalefield Stories provides direct aid to local families and communities impacted across Southwestern PA, in the form of replacement water, air scrubbers and independent air and water testing.

Order Shalefield Stories Vol. 2

Share Shalefield Stories with your elected officials and neighbors. Let them hear from the people who have been harmed by fracking.

Thanks, Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator

Josh Fox – December 17, 2015

Today is the one-year anniversary of the New York State ban on fracking!

New York’s fracking ban was one of the largest climate victories of the year, keeping 273 million tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted between now and 2050. That’s the equivalent of 72 coal-fired power plants.

And that’s just CO2. Fracking also emits tons of methane, a potent greenhouse gas., If  we have any hope of slowing global warming in the short time frame we’ve got, it’s critical we limit these emissions.

Fracking is a climate disaster. Stopping it in New York is a victory the whole worldwide climate movement should take the time to celebrate.

And since we’re on a pretty fast ticking clock to beat climate change, the world should enjoy that celebratory moment of victory with us for about 15 more seconds and then jump into the next fight!

As the graph above shows, New York and the rest of the United States is actually closing down coal-fired power plants because of Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which is great! But, the Clean Power Plan does nothing to prevent those coal-fired power plants from being replaced by equally disastrous fracked gas-fired plants.

Here’s a more recent graph:

EIA report here: http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=23252

In July fracked-gas passed coal for electricity generation in the U.S. A web of fracked-gas pipelines, compressor stations, power plants and storage facilities have been proposed across New York and the Northeast to transport, process and export fracked Marcellus Shale gas.

Caught in that web are dozens of communities that will face many of the same health and safety risks that communities living near fracking wells have been exposed to.

Similar webs are spreading out all over the country. Pipelines have been proposed that cross Iowa and the Midwest to transport oil that was fracked in the Bakken Shale, trapping communities already suffering from frac sand mining.

Communities around Chicago, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Albany and many more have dangerous bomb-trains rolling through them carrying fracked-oil.

From extraction to export, fracking has put hundreds of communities on the fossil fuel chopping block, but like in New York, communities facing fracking infrastructure are fighting back.

No matter where you are you should support these communities because the fracking fight is the frontlines of climate change.

 The Constitution Pipeline will carry fracked-gas from PA through NY. Governor Cuomo and the DEC can stop the pipeline by Denying it the 401 Water Quality Certificate.

Tell Governor Cuomo, “I want New York to be a climate leader. Stop the Constitution Pipeline and all fracked-gas infrastructure.”

If you’re a Pennsylvania or West Virginia citizen you can call Governor Cuomo too!

Tell him,”That building the Constitution Pipeline means your state will get fracked even more.”

If you’re in Vermont you can call Governor Shumlin.
Call Shumlin’s office at 802 828-3333

He also thinks it’s okay to say no to fracking but okay to continue to use fracked-gas.

See his reaction when he’s called out on his pro fracked-gas pipeline position while at the COP21 in Paris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OZlUEUvry4

No matter where you are, call up your governor and ask them to stop the transition from coal to gas in your state.

And help us bring our new film, How To Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change, to these frontline communities by donating today. Help us reach our goal and get to 100 cities with our grassroots tour.

Learn more: www.howtoletgomovie.com

I know this time next year we will have a lot more victories to celebrate.

Love,

Josh Fox

Credit: ERIK McGREGOR for Sane Energy Project

On Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed Port Ambrose, a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal off of Jones Beach.

This is an incredible victory for the climate justice movement.

As you can see from the video, it took creative, relentless organizing and a lot of folks showing up to rallies and public hearings to make this happen. We thank all the grassroots groups and individuals who made this victory possible!

New York was presented with an important choice. In the same area as the Port Ambrose LNG terminal, an offshore wind farm has been proposed.

We could build Port Ambrose, committing to more fracked-gas use. Or we could build one of the largest offshore wind farms in the country, proving New York is a leader on climate change and renewable energy.

Governor Cuomo made the right choice and put the safety of New York citizens first.

Defeating Port Ambrose doesn’t mean an automatic victory for the Long Island- New York City Offshore Wind Project. The public needs to come together and support offshore wind on mass they way they did to oppose LNG. But every fossil fuel defeat makes 100% renewable energy more of a reality.

We thank Governor Cuomo for saying no this dangerous project and now ask that he listen to the many communities across the state that are speaking out against fracked-gas infrastructure like pipelines, compressor stations, power plants and gas storage facilities that threaten their health and safety.

We ask that all elected officials, from town supervisors to state governors to President Obama, listen to your citizens that are being harmed by fracking, other forms of extreme fossil fuel development and climate change.

Listen to communities like the Rockaways that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. We are feeling the impacts of climate change now. No more fossil fuel development, 100% renewable energy now.

Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator

Credit: PennLive’s series on fracking “The Shale Bargain”

It seems like almost every day a new study or investigative report comes out of Pennsylvania’s Gaslands. They confirm what families have been saying for years- fracking is harming Pennsylvania communities and the government is failing to protect them.

Our Map of the Week comes from a new series by PennLive on fracking. ‘The Shale Bargain’ series is the result of a six-month long investigation that found the Department of Environmental Protection “relied heavily on energy companies to largely police themselves and, in the process, ignored citizens’ constitutional right to clean air and water.”

And what the maps show is just the beginning of what the fracking industry has planned for Pennsylvania. A new report from PennEnvironment found “that since the beginning of 2007, Pennsylvania has issued more than 19,300 permits for fracking wells,” and “by 2030, Pennsylvania could see up to 60,000 wells extracting resources from the Marcellus Shale alone.”

Knowing how much damage has already been done, it’s terrifying to imagine what that map would look like with 60,000 wells.

The Pennsylvania Government is on board with fracking overtaking the state and is more interested in protecting the industry than its citizens. Something we’re seeing in many fossil fuel extraction states.

But all over the country scientific evidence and public opposition is mounting against fracking. We wont stop until fracking is banned everywhere. Below are three powerful tools that you can use to share the truth about fracking with your community and elected officials.

Educate and activate your community:

Shalefield Stories -Volume 2: Shalefield Stories is a powerful compilation of first hand testimonies from people who have been harmed by dangerous drilling in the oil and gas shalefields across the US, many of whom are suffering in Pennsylvania’s Gaslands.

To get your copy of Shalefield Stories visit http://www.shalefieldstories.org

 Compendium of Scientific, Medical and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking, Third Edition: In easy to understand language, the Compendium summarizes hundreds of peer-reviewed studies on fracking. The Compendium covers numerous risks with sections on air pollution, water contamination, the threat of fracking infrastructure, climate change, worker safety and more.

View the Compendium: http://concernedhealthny.org/compendium/

GASWORK, The Fight for C.J.’s Law – GASWORK is a new short film by Josh Fox that investigates dangerous working conditions in the oil and gas fields.

Watch the film and take action at www.gasworkfilm.com and email screenings@gaslandthemovie.com to host a community screening

Thanks and have a great weekend,
Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator

If you have videos or maps you’d like us to share on our blog please email me at leeziesche@gmail.com

Watch and share our Video of the Week: Medina County Can’t Vote to Ban Fracking

All over the country the fracking industry isn’t just threatening the health and safety of local communities; they are fracturing democracy itself.

In Ohio last week, Secretary of State John Husted determined that three Ohio counties didn’t have the right to vote on local charters that would ban fracking despite getting enough signatures to be on the ballot.

Husted said he was ‘unmoved’ by the arguments of Medina, Fulton and Athens County residents who are being inundated by dangerous fracking infrastructure projects such as wastewater injection wells and pipelines, siding instead with the American Petroleum Institute, the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

This blatant attack on democracy isn’t just happening in Ohio. In May, Texas legislators decided corporate profits trumped the health and safety of its citizens when they passed a bill that banned fracking bans in response to a resident led initiative that banned fracking in the town of Denton, Texas.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed a similar bill into law despite the fact that her state is being rocked by hundreds of earthquakes each year caused by fracking injection wells.

Communities in Colorado are facing similar attacks on their grassroots led and voter approved fracking bans and moratoriums.

Residents in Ohio are now suing Secretary Husted over the decision. They are being represented by The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), a non-profit, public interest law firm that helped residents initially draft their county charters.

It’s startling to see elected officials systematically strip the right to govern from their citizens and place it in the hands of the fossil fuel industry, but hopefully this insane power grab will be enough to wake up more people to the dangers of fracking.

Because it’s not just the potential damage to our environment we must stop, it’s the dismantling of American democracy.

Stand up for citizens’ right to governor, please watch and share our video of the week.

Thanks and have a great week,

Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator

You can support local grassroots efforts in Ohio by donating to the following groups:
Sustainable Medina County
PO Box 1033
Wadsworth, OH 44282
sustainablemedinacounty.org

Fulton County Common Sense Energy Coalition:
Fulton County CSEC
c/o Mary Foster
4483 Co Rd 3
Swanton, Ohio 43558

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/874995185894691/

Showing bold leadership that few US Governors have, including supposed climate leaders like Governor Jerry Brown in California, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo listened to the science on fracking and put public health over fossil fuel interests, banning fracking in New York State.

The New York fracking ban is a historic victory for grassroots democracy and science, but New York is not safe from fracking yet.

Dozens of fracking infrastructure projects that carry many of the same risks as drilling to public health and the environment are proposed all over the state. Pipelines, compressor stations, gas storage facilities, fracked-gas power plants and LNG ports threaten to trap New York communities in a dangerous web of fracked-gas infrastructure.

Our Video of the Week shows how communities are coming together to oppose one of these projects, the North East Direct pipeline (NED) and asks Governor Cuomo to put the health and safety of New Yorkers first, and stop fracked-gas infrastructure they way he did fracking.

The NED pipeline will transport gas fracked in Pennsylvania through New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire to Dracut, Massachusetts and will have no benefits for the communities it crosses.

Many fracking companies are struggling under massive debt now and are banking on building these pipelines so they can export the gas and make a profit again. Building pipelines like NED and the Constitution Pipeline means our friends in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia will continue to get fracked to hell and there will constantly be pressure on New York to reverse its fracking ban.

It’s time New York says No Fracking Way once and for all.

Thanks and have a great weekend,

Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator

There are many ways to look at the destruction fracking is causing. Often we focus on the science concerning public health, the impacts of air pollution and water contamination.

Our Video of the Week looks at the destruction from the perspective of Native Americans, particularly The Blackfeet Nation in North Central Montana where unemployment hovers at 70%.

The exploitation of Native Americans in this country is nothing new, and now many tribes face landmen trying to take advantage of the extreme poverty of their people to gain access to frack tribal lands.

If we are going to stop fracking and move to a renewable energy future we must come together with all people who are being put on the fossil fuel chopping block.  We must learn from each other and stand united.

And who better to learn from than people who have been deemed ‘expendable’ for centuries yet persevered and remained steadfast in their traditions of environmental stewardship.

Please watch and share our Video of the Week.

And stand with our Native American allies by signing these two important petitions:

1. Cancel Oil and Gas Leases on Sacred Montana Lands

2.Tell Congress: Repeal the giveaway of a holy Native American site to a foreign mining company Don’t mine sacred Native American land in Arizona.

Thanks and have a great weekend,

Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator

Please consider chipping in so we can continue to share this vital information.

Watch our Video of the Week: Frack Free Denton community organizer Tara Linn Hunter talking about her recent arrest on Democracy Now!

Community isn’t a word we use very often these days.  We can leave our homes, get in our cars, go to work, get back in our cars and go home, without ever having any real, meaningful interaction with our community.

But if you want to see what community looks likes in 2015 turn to Denton, Texas.

After years of trying to work with the oil and gas industry to regulate fracking wells that were dangerously close to homes, schools and hospitals, causing their community to have some of the most unhealthy air and highest rates of childhood asthma in Texas, the people of Denton realized they only had one recourse left – to ban fracking in their town.

They needed 500 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot.  They got 2,000.

The ban measure passed overwhelmingly with almost 60% of the vote and Denton became the first town in Texas to ban fracking.

On May 18^th the State of Texas took their hard fought, community victory away. Governor Greg Abbot signed into law HB 40 which puts corporate profits over public health and banned fracking bans in Texas.

Once again the citizens of Denton, Texas realized they only had one recourse left – civil disobedience.

Tara Linn Hunter arrested for trespassing at a Vantage frack site. ©2015 Julie Dermansky

A couple weeks later Oklahoma passed a similar law banning fracking bans, despite a terrifying surge in earthquakes across the state that has been linked to fracking wastewater injection. As Amy Goodman reports on Democracy Now! in our Video of the Week, the American Legislative Exchange Council(ALEC), a Koch Brother funded group,  is behind the laws in both states.

These groups are powerful. They represent the wealthiest industries in the history of humanity, but do you want to know what’s more powerful?

Organized communities.

Communities like Denton, Texas where citizens are putting their bodies on the line to enforce the people’s ban. Communities like We Are Seneca Lake where there has been 279 arrests of citizens blockading a Texas based company from storing fracked gas under Seneca Lake.

These are people who are willing to risk their personal freedom and get arrested because they know, if they do not act, the risk is even greater.

Please watch and share our Video of the Week. And please consider chipping into the legal fund of those that have been arrested in Denton, Texas. Donate here:https://www.everribbon.com/DefendTheBan 

Our Map of the Week confirms widespread, systemic contamination of United States regulatory bodies by the oil and gas industry (and that water contamination due to fracking is widespread too!) Credit: BH/NY Friends of Clean Air and Water CC-BY-NC All other rights reserved

In a draft report 5 years in the making, the EPA has confirmed that fracking does indeed contaminate drinking water, a fact the oil and gas industry has vehemently denied.

But instead of dismantling the industry’s ‘not one single case of groundwater contamination caused by fracking’ refrain, the EPA decided to go with the misleading headline ‘there is no evidence fracking has led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources’.

It’s a puzzling conclusion since their study was conspicuously narrow (they did no new case studies, dropped three marquee cases that proved water contamination, and dropped all air quality studies from the report).

Our map of the week shows 313 cases where families reported water contamination due to drilling in just six counties in North Eastern, PA. Seems pretty widespread to me for a fracking and drilling campaign that’s still in its infancy. So far there’s been around 9,000 wells drilled in PA. One report showed the potential for 200,000 – 600,000 fracked wells in the state.

If the EPA is looking for proof of ‘widespread’ contamination before declaring fracking unsafe, they may not have to wait long. The industry’s own data shows that 5% of fracking wells leak upon drilling and that number only grows over time.

What the EPA presented to the public today was PR, not science and proof of the widespread, systemic contamination of our regulatory bodies by the oil and gas industry.

This isn’t the first time the EPA has released a report burying the science with a misleading headline that supports the Obama administration’s pro-fracking policies rather than reveal the true dangers of fracking. It’s a disturbing trend we reported on extensively in GASLAND Part II with cases in Dimock, Pennsylvania, Parker County, Texas and Pavilion, Wyoming.

In Dimock, Parker Country and Pavilion the EPA suddenly dropped water contamination cases when the science proved that fracking was the cause, going as far as slapping a press release claiming Dimock’s water was safe on a report that proved fracking had contaminated the water.

The EPA did this, conveniently, around the same time that President Obama was touting fracking as part of his All-of-the-Above energy policy on the campaign trail.

And President Obama has not backed off in his support for natural gas despite mounting evidence that fracking is a climate change disaster. His administration is opening up huge swaths of BLM land for drilling and has even gone so far as to allow fracking offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.

He’s not the only one. As Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton sold fracking to the rest of the world and has said nothing to indicate she will do any differently as President, despite claiming that addressing climate change is a pillar of her campaign.

If Barack and Hilary want to know what a fracking legacy looks like they should take a look at the pictures coming from Little Rock, Arkansas where a fracked-gas pipeline ruptured in the Arkansas River within view of Bill Clinton’s Presidential Library.

Millions of Americans know that fracking contaminates ground water and for the EPA to report any differently only proves that greatest contamination from the industry comes from its influence and ownership of our government.

It’s clear there is no action coming from our politicians to protect our public health and safety from fracking. They will stick with the industry till all our water is contaminated, our air polluted and climate change has made our planet unlivable.

It’s up to us to get the truth out.

If you want to educate your community on the dangers of fracking and the incredible influence of the industry on our government, email us to host a screening of GASLAND Part II at screenings@gaslandthemovie.com

Thanks,
Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator

P.S. If you have videos or maps you’d like us to share on our blog please email me at leeziesche@gmail.com

P.P.S Please consider chipping in so we can continue to share this vital information. Donate Here