This past week has been incredibly inspiring.

On September 4th we had a sold out screening of Gasland Part II in the European Parliament in Brussels and met dozens of anti-fracking activists from all across Europe.  From the 94 day stand off of Polish Farmers against the frackers to the month long action in Balcombe, England to campaigners in France, Netherlands and Bulgaria, the movement in Europe is really gaining ground.

We continued our grassroots tour in France with screenings in Jouarre, Ardeche and Montpellier.  The Cheese!  The Wine!  The Countryside!  All under attack by an aggressive campaign from oil and gas to open France to large scale drilling and fracking.  In Ardeche we met with organizers who mobilized 20,000 people in the streets to ban fracking.  We could not visit France without visiting with a group of organic winemakers fighting fracking for their culture, their soil, their grapes and their centuries-old traditions. 

And two nights ago we screened in Berlin at the incredible Radialsystem. Energy democracy is well underway in German with millions of independent energy producers supplying wind and solar energy to the grid.

This trip has confirmed what we’ve always believed, that the anti-fracking movement is so much more than what is going on in anyone’s backyard. This is a global movement to not only ban fracking, but a movement to restore our democracies and change the global energy paradigm.

I think Josh summed it up best with what he said at the European Parliament. We cannot have democracy until we have freedom from fossil fuels.

Lee Ziesche, Grassroots Coordinator