Our first grassroots screening of Gasland Part II was in Normal, Illinois at the Normal Theater.

Originally, Illinois wasn’t even on our schedule, but with the State Legislature poised to open the state up for Fracking, we added a stop in Normal less than two weeks before we hit the road.

With only 12 days to plan, organizers in Illinois kicked it into high gear, brining out a crowd of 400 people to the screening. It was amazing.

The people who call the Land of Lincoln of home are smart, passionate, organized people who have seen the devastation fracking has brought to communities across the country and know it’s not what they want for their state.

Each week we’ll be featuring a video on this blog, and I thought we should start with this Greenpeace mini-doc that highlights what’s at stake in the great state of Illinois. Illinois may not be your backyard, but the consequences on our democracy and environment when they begin to frack the Land of Lincoln will impact us all.

-Lee Ziesche, Gasland Grassroots Coordinator