.Ban Fracking Now

An open letter to Governor Jerry Brown.

Governor Brown, you may have seen the news, the pictures, possibly even heard the chants. The residents of California are ignited with a new level of determination to ban fracking. It’s time to listen up.

On March 15, I was one of the thousands of Californians who came together at the state capitol to deliver a message to you: Fracking must end now. It must end now in every part of the country.

This is a matter of basic survival. It is a matter of ensuring future generations thrive, and a matter of preserving the earth. The effects of fracking are rippling across the nation, tainting democracy, destroying land, and poisoning people.

Governor Brown, you are an intelligent individual who gained the trust of Californians over years of hard work. I respect the effort you have put into your governorship. But how can you be in favor of fracking?

All of the alarms are sounding off: fracking uses clean water and turns it into poison. Fracking ruins farmlands, emits methane, and produces radioactive waste. Still, you do not listen. You do not leverage your power and stop this destructive process. Why?

Many people theorize that you have been bought out by oil companies. You have received $161,000 total so far from four different oil companies in the 2014 election cycle, and at least $2,014,570.22 from fossil fuel interests since 2006. Mr. Brown, can it be this simple? Is it the money? Is your motivation that vain, superficial, and cliché?

Oil companies are in their final, desperate attempts to hang onto their power. They know the oil is running out, and are doing everything they possibly can to suck every last drop, and get every last dollar. Governor Brown, you are buying in, and by doing so, you are losing out.

Now is your opportunity to change course, to take back your reputation, and to position California in the direction it is meant to go: to be the leading state in renewable energy, in sustainable development, and in constructively utilizing the abundant land. You can do all this with one simple decision: Ban fracking now.

The March 15 rally galvanized the anti-fracking movement. There is power, dedication, and steadfast resilience growing across the state as communities are waking up to the dangers of fracking. Communities will not allow water resources and farmland to be compromised, and towns and cities will not be silent and watch fracking expand into their neighborhoods, poisoning everything in sight. Enough is enough.

Governor Brown, it’s time you stepped up for what is right — not for what is most profitable in the short-term.

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