DRBC VOTE CANCELLED!
YOU DID IT. YOU WON.
All of your calls. All of your emails. Your pledges to swarm the DRBC in Trenton on November 21st.
All of your pressure and all of your strength.
You stopped fracking in the Delaware River Basin for now. You won this round. It is not a complete victory but it is a huge victory. You brought us back from the brink of total devastation.
What cancellation means: The DRBC doesn’t hold a meeting to vote down their regulations. I’ve only ever seen them vote to approve things. Which means they cancel the meeting if they no longer have 3 out of 5 commissioners voting in favor of fracking. Which is exactly what they have done. They don’t cancel meetings often, let alone votes. Your voice made a tremendous difference. I am humbled, proud and beyond thankful.
Of course, in my wildest dreams, I would have hoped that the DRBC would outlaw fracking in the River Basin permanently and forever and we could all have an icy Thanksgiving canoeing party down the Delaware next week. This is not a complete victory by any means. We still do not know when the DRBC will reschedule their meeting. Could be ten days, could be a month, could be a year. So stay tuned and stay ready. We will let you know. We will have many more battles before we stop fracking completely in the Delaware River Basin and throughout the nation and the world.
But this will still be the best thanksgiving I’ve had in my house for years, and I am incredibly thankful for all of you. You did this. It was you and the threat of you showing up in massive numbers that did this.
You saved the Delaware, for now.
The Governor of Delaware has said he will vote no on fracking the Delaware. Read the story here. But that couldn’t have done it all. Something MUST have happened in New Jersey or with the Obama Administration. It could have been all of your calls and emails to Joe Biden. We’ll find out more in the coming days.
This was a concerted effort by so many groups, in so many places. From the local organizations Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Delaware Riverkeeper, Catskill Mountainkeeper, NYH2O, United for Action, Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, Protecting our Waters and others to the Big Greens, EWG, Earth Justice, NRDC, FOod and Water Watch, Sierra Club, to the brilliant and passionate groups working for Climate Justice 350.org, Peaceful Uprising and of course, Tar Sands Action.
We will continue to fight for the Delaware River. We will continue to make our voices heard to the Governors of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware and to President Obama and Vice President Biden.
We will have another email in a few hours or tomorrow morning with details and next steps. We will still hold trainings Nov 20th. We may refocus the rally on the 21st to keep up the momentum of our campaign.
We must turn our attention now to the rest of Pennsylvania, and the rest of the nation where fracking is still running rampant and we must make sure we keep up our vigilance and focus.
Please pledge along with me that you will continue to fight, that you will continue to show up to events and that you will continue to follow the next steps of this amazing coalition that has assembled to fight fracking.
We will still be holding our 1st Amendment peaceful action trainings on November 20th. I am encouraging you to attend. I will be attending the New York training myself. We need this training and we will re-focus on a new place, perhaps even on November 21. Please stay tuned.
But for now, enjoy this. And this Thanksgiving, be just a bit more thankful for yourself and all the others who have worked so hard in this phase of our campaign to save the Delaware.
All my love and respect.
Josh Fox
and the whole GASLAND team
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THANK YOU JOSH AND EVERYBODY WHO HAS LET THEYRE OPINIONS BE HEARD I HAVE GROWN UP ON THE DELAWARE FROM YOUR HOME TO MINE AND CURRENTLY LIVE ON NESHAMINY CREEK …AND THEY HAVE BEEN DUMPING DROMIDES FROM WESTERN PA IN NESHAMINY AND ONLY RECENTLY HAVE THE CITIZENS IN BUCKS CO LEARNED ALL THIS ….WE WILL KEEP UP THE FIGHT !!!!!
THANK YOU AGAIN !!!!
NMARVIL
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AWESOME!!! Hearty thanks and congrats to Josh and all involved!
Fight the Power!
Scott
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This is fantastic news. Congratulations to everyone who worked on this.
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thanks josh
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Hi Josh,
I became aware of fracking earlier this year through friends from Philadelphia.
We are now facing the threat of the practice in Ireland, and we need to raise awareness in every way possible.
Is it possible to get a copy of your film GASLAND to screen around the country to help us in this with our endeavours.
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Hallelujah! God and all of you be praised!!! Let us give THANKS!!!!
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Please Josh turn your attention to New York State — I went to the DEC hearing in Binghamton tonight, the second of four planed hearings before they start issuing permits to perform horizontal hydraulic fracturing. There were quite a few anti-fracking activists there hoping to express their concerns but the hall was by far dominated by a gas industry mock grassroots organization calling themselves ‘shalecountryusa’ something or other. — We were offered speaking opportunities by number with elected officials speaking first. The first two were in favor with the second guy ending by evoking God saying that the energy was put there by God and therefore our [human being’ s? Society’s? The Gas industry’s?] responsibility to harvest it. —- A big industry PR event, They are going to pull this off up here too if some very powerful intervention doesn’t take place.
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Finally saw Gasland last night. Thanks for the revelation!!!
Gwenn LeMoine
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Great news; was it the Army Corps (Larsen) that wouldn’t be the 3rd vote? Great job triple threat Josh, Mark and Bill! Thank you for the amazing leadership and incredibly work! (Say it ain’t so Joe!)
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thank you..thank you..thank you. I was late to write the e-mails & make the calls. One person, many can make a difference – this is clear now – this makes me feel very good. again thank you ALL for time & energy & hope you – you’ve dusted this word off to mean something!
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Thank you, Josh, for that touching, heartfelt message.
We were at the Cathedral Church Saint John the Divine for the conversation about water with Maude Barlow and Wehnonah Hauter
moderated by Dean Kowalski. Maude Barlow gave her opening remarks.
Then, Wenonah Hauter who surprised us all by making the announcement that she had just received a message that the DRBC had canceled Monday’s meeting – a cheer broke out in the audience – it was a special moment, indeed.
And now, home, I read your message. I guess I’ll still see you all Sunday.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE, JOSH, TO LEAD THIS EFFORT!
Have canoe, will travel the Delaware,
PEACE, Catherine
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P.S. It was an EXCELLENT evening!!! Maude Barlow’s backgroud and knowledge about water issues and the condition of water resources here and around the world are totally amazing! Wenonah brought many of the realities or our efforts along with directions we need to take in this struggle to the discussion. Both of these along with and prompted by questions from the Dean made for an exhilerating evening. Audience members had the opportunity to join the conversation with comments and questions, bringing additional insights, concerns and perspectives.
Friends were there – I’m grateful to have been a part.
Respectively and in PEACE, Catherine
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As You said “FOR NOW” we must not let our Guards Down! I’d like to Occupy the Delaware River in any future protest with my KAYAK!!!!!!
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Woohoo! Thank you!!! Thank you for your collective effort, for your diligence and persistence. Now, I may just have to celebrate this year’s Thanksgiving by hosting another viewing of Gasland for the extended family. It’s worth a shot considering the captive audience (after turkey, of course). . .
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“something must have happened in New Jersey or with the Obama Administration” …
because we know it wasn’t Corbett who threw a wrench in the works!
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Congratulations! – here in Lancashire, England we are fighting hard to stop fracking. Interest in our campaign is gathering momentum and we must stop this globally. Eve McNamara – REAF Ribble Estuary Against Fracking
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I am not as sanguine as many on these web pages seem to be.
I don’t for a minute assume the fight to save the Delaware over. The oil and gas money is big and the fat cats arent sensitive to the public interest.
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This is beyond wonderful news! I told my friends and family the great news and really attribute the success to Josh Fox who made us aware graphically/visually of what fracking means and the sickening effects on people, to all the hard work of environmental groups, assembly members like Linda Rosenthal who hosted a panel in Manhattan’s UWS of environmental experts as well as guest appearance from actor Mark Ruffalo, educational instit.s like Cooper Union, and last but not least local activists, individuals who care, like you and me! I echo Josh’s sentiments, a great moment to be thankful!
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Terrific article in NYT today The Fracturing of Pennsylvania https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/magazine/fracking-amwell-township.html?pagewanted=all?src=tp
really helped me understand the problems. Seems regulations are not tough or enforced well, and safety standards not enough to convince me it is safe. Wondering if tough safety standards to prevent the problems in this article could make it feasible? Citizens MUST be in this dialogue!!!
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Congratulations to all of us! I’ve sent a message to Joe Biden myself and a mail to all of my friends to do the same.
Josh, thanks a lot for your film !!! We wouldn’t have known about the impacts of fracking without it.
I’m living in Poland. Our government is doing everything to develop fracking on more than 30% of our territory! Your film in Polish version is all the time disapearing from Youtube (the message is that it’s because of the licence…).
In newspapers they say that your film is tendentious and not true: the gas in water is methane and it has nothing to do with shell gas. On internet forums we can read that the film was “payed by Russian Gasprom to prevent Poland from energy independence from Russia”. But more and more peaple on internet are diffusing the information about the real impact of fracking on the environement and human health.
There is now a big battle in European Union for shell gas and fracking – France is the leader of the faction against the francking, Poland is the leader of the faction pro-fracking. The Greens in EU Parliament would like to forbiden hydraulic fracking of the shell gas in EU.
If you won in Delaware, it would be a very strong sign for our population, because USA is still considered as a country of democracy and freedom, and people say that if Gasland was true and if there were really big environemental problems because of fracking, the Americans would protest and the development of this industry would be stopped.
So keep acting guys! Our Polish childrens’ future depends also on it.
Ewa from Warsaw, Poland
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Thanks Josh, I know the fight is not over, they are crafty buzzards and have a lot a money behind them. We just have keep pushing, don’t let up. We are fighting the same thing here in Ohio. Christopher Gill
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Josh, thank you for opening my eyes and starting my journey. This is just the beginning and we must remain ever vigil, but for now I say WHOPPIE!!!
Maureen
Born and raised by the beautiful Delaware River….Eldred, NY
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Thank you to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to Mark Ruffalo and Debra Winger for signing on to this campaign.
Keep watching though…