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Tap water so contaminated you can light it on fire. Cancer-causing chemicals released into drinking water sources. Air pollution. Economic damage. Climate change. These are just some of the effects of hydraulic fracturing.1
Better known as "fracking," hydraulic fracturing is a method used by the fossil fuel industry to release oil and gas deposits by injecting massive amounts of water and toxic chemicals deep underground—often with devastating results.
But fracking has another side effect—organized resistance from millions of concerned Americans. The grassroots movement to stop fracking and invest instead in clean, renewable energy has grown so rapidly that it's been called "the largest grassroots movement on the environment in decades."2
That's why today, we're thrilled to launch a major new campaign to support the grassroots leaders who are organizing to stop fracking and who are already building a national movement. We're calling it #FrackingFighters, and the purpose is to support grassroots leaders with resources, materials, and training to build winning campaigns to end fracking.
MoveOn members like Mike Page in Lafayette, Colorado, have been on the front lines, and are showing that people power really can overcome corporate power. Just last week, despite being outspent 32 to 1 by the oil and gas industry, voters in three Colorado cities rose up and approved bans and moratoria on fracking in their communities.3
Mike knocked on doors in his neighborhood to get out the vote, and other members chipped in money that helped the grassroots campaigns pay for basic materials like flyers and yard signs that helped educate voters. It was as grassroots and community-driven as it gets—and it worked. We believe that the victories we've seen in places like Colorado are a model for how to protect our communities—and that's why today, we're launching MoveOn's #FrackingFighters program.
Are you ready to take your commitment to end fracking to the next level, by applying to be one of the first 50 MoveOn #FrackingFighters across the country?
#FrackingFighters is designed for anyone with the passion and commitment to engage others in the movement to end fracking at every stage. Communities in nearly every state are feeling the direct impacts of fracking—where industry is using or planning to use hydraulic fracturing, dumping toxic waste created by the fracking process, mining the special silica sand used in fracking, or brazenly constructing pipelines and export terminals to transport fracked gas and oil.
And each of us is feeling the impacts of global warming, spurred on by the methane released in fracking. Methane is up to 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a global warming gas over a twenty-year period—a critical window for our planet.4 So it doesn't matter where you live, or what part of the fracking process you're fighting—#FrackingFighters is for you.
Here's how it'll work. If you are a MoveOn #FrackingFighter, you will:
- Win a $500 mini-grant for your campaign
- Receive a package of must-have organizing materials like banners and signs, a megaphone, and clipboards for getting out into your community
- Join a cohort of 49 other #FrackingFighters for a two-month online training program to learn new skills to grow your campaign, mobilize your community, and win
- Build relationships with other grassroots leaders organizing to stop fracking around the country—to lay the groundwork for coordinated national actions
MoveOn members and allies across the country have been fighting fracking in their own communities, and against enormous odds, are proving that we can win.
The Christian Science Monitor called the grassroots victories in Colorado a "litmus test" for the oil and gas industry, and NBC labeled the votes a "setback" for frackers.5 Grassroots leaders and MoveOn members are proving that when communities come together to protect their water, air, and land, they can win—if they have the people, resources, and support to sustain a vibrant campaign.
That's what #FrackingFighters is designed to do. We have a choice: Will we carry the momentum of the Colorado victories and the lessons learned there forward to win more victories in more places? Or will we let the moment pass us by?
There's really only one option—to go all in. And that's what we're doing with #FrackingFighters.
Thanks for all you do.
–Victoria, Manny, Maria, David, and the rest of the team
P.S. Do you know of anyone in your community—a friend, a family member, a teacher, a student—who might want to apply to be a #FrackingFighter? Please forward this email and make sure they know about this exciting opportunity! Applications are due Tuesday, December 3, at 10 p.m. local time.
Sources:
1. "Fracking by the Numbers: New Report First to Quantify Damage Done by Gas Drilling," Environment America, October 3, 2013
http://www.environmentamerica.org/news/ame/fracking-numbers
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=294771&id=77877-10220574-mq8Vxqx&t=13
3. "Colorado Cities' Rejection of Fracking Poses Political Test for Natural Gas Industry," The New York Times, November 7, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=295052&id=77877-10220574-mq8Vxqx&t=14
"Fracking Limit Weighed as Colorado Drillers Back Ad Blitz," Bloomberg, November 1, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=294854&id=77877-10220574-mq8Vxqx&t=15
4. "Top climate scientists call for fracking ban in letter to Gov. Jerry Brown," San Jose Mercury News, November 12, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=295053&id=77877-10220574-mq8Vxqx&t=16
5. "Colorado becomes energy battleground as cities ban fracking," NBC News, November 7, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=295054&id=77877-10220574-mq8Vxqx&t=17
"Coloradans weigh fracking bans. A litmus test for oil and gas?" The Christian Science Monitor, November 4, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=295055&id=77877-10220574-mq8Vxqx&t=18
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