Fracking the last best place

The moment that stood out for me the most in today’s Video of the Week is a quick clip of an activist sign that says ‘Don’t Frack the Last Best Place’.

I think most people whose livelihoods are threaten by fracking feel that way.

There are reasons we chose to live where we do. It might be because the land has been in our family for generations. Or because we were drawn to the natural beauty of it. Or it felt like a safe place to raise a family.

Fracking threatens all of that.

We’ve heard many families besieged by oil and gas development say they don’t even know where they would go if they left their homes. With fracking going on in 34 states there is no safe place.

When we look at the big picture and climate change, more last best places get put on the chopping block. The entire fracking process from production to delivery is fraught with fugitive methane emissions, a potent green house gas that will exacerbate global warming.

Fracking and other forms of extreme energy development threaten to take the last best place from all of us.

But as the video points out, there is one defense that can save our last best places. It’s grassroots democracy. It’s you

Please watch and share our video of the week by the Norther Plains Resource Council.

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

Northern Plains Resource Council is a grassroots conservation group that organizes Montana’s citizens to protect our water quality, family farms and ranches, and unique quality of life. That’s why Northern Plains is engaging our members to build a statewide network that empowers communities to guide development.

As they stand today, Montana’s rules and regulatory bodies are simply not up to the task of protecting our water, air, soil, communities, or landowner rights from the dangers of extreme oil and gas development. Our state standards lag behind those in neighboring states and even industry standards. The Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation (BOGC) is particularly unresponsive to the concerns of citizens and landowners that are outside of the “good ‘ol boys club” of oil and gas companies.

What are we doing to change the oil and gas landscape in Montana? Check out Northern Plains’ website to learn more about our three core campaigns:

-Developing and advocating for regulations based on best management practices that will force the oil and gas industry to do it right. We want to pass landowner protections that improve transparency, oversight and accountability.

-Pressuring the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation for reforms—including a lawsuit over their 48-hour fracking notification rule for wildcat wells, and the right for public participation in the permitting process.

-Organizing to ensure the Montana State Water Plan accounts for oil and gas water quality and quantity impacts and limits the shifting use of water to the oil and gas industry.

-Using Citizen Initiated Zoning and Conservation District ordinance campaigns to create local controls that put the power to guide development back in the hands of the people.

To win on this issue, we need your help. Join Northern Plains Resource Council today! As a grassroots member-run organization, Northern Plains is built on the involvement and support of our members. Will you join us?

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