People Power VS Fracking

The Winning Strategies Behind New York's Fracking Ban

The Winning Strategies Behind New York’s Fracking Ban FRACKING

01 Big Oil and Gas Threatens to Bring Fracking to New York pg 6-15 03 Putting the Pressure on Cuomo Through Bold Tactics pg 26-49

02 How to Win an Unwinnable Fight pg 16-25 04 Winning a Ban on Fracking in New York pg 50-62

People Power vs. Fracking 2 Front cover photos: top left, top center, bottom left and second from the top left by Simon Russell Photography. Second from the top right by Frack Action. All others by Food & Water Watch TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

the anti-fracking movement celebrated an incredible victory — after years of relentless organizing, we won a ban on fracking in all of New York state. At the time, it was called an “unwinnable fight.” We were told the best we could hope for were regula- tions. But to protect our families and our planet, we knew we needed to ban fracking entirely. Thousands of New Yorkers from across the state — farmers, physicians, students, and so many more — joined the movement in a years-long, uphill battle. Despite the naysayers and the go- liaths of the fossil fuel industry, we grew into a powerful move- ment that demanded and won the change we needed. This win didn’t just protect New Yorkers from fracking — it changed the conversation nationwide . It showed what people power can do, and, though we still have much more work ahead, it has shaped the environmental and climate movements in the years since. To commemorate the 10th anniversary, we’re looking back at how a coalition of grassroots organizers and everyday people won this “unwinnable” fight, and the lessons we’ve taken from it in New York and beyond. 10 Years Ago,

Left and bottom photos by Simon Russell Photography; Right photo by Susan Wozny

People Power vs. Fracking 4

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In the late 2000s, advances in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) were hailed as technological breakthroughs that would supply the country with plentiful fuel at less cost to the environment than coal. By blasting water, sand, and chemicals into cracks in the earth, fossil fuel companies could access oil and gas that they never could before. Both the public and private sector were thrilled. “Fracking will get us off foreign oil!” they crowed. “It will bring jobs and prosperity. This clean fuel will be a ‘bridge’ to renewable energy!” But as fracking swept through the country, it became increasingly clear that it would not be the miracle that companies promised. The first to call for a ban on fracking in New York were the Haude- nosaunee Confederacy and the Onondaga Nation. They con- tinuously stated clearly that fracking could not be done safely and provided important leadership, connecting with grassroots groups across the state in addition to weighing in repeatedly with decisionmakers.

Big Oil and Gas Threatens to Bring Fracking to New York

Tadodaho Sid Hill of the Onondaga Nation opens the first rally for a fracking ban in Albany in May 2011.

Photo courtesy of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON)

“Fracking was never the miracle they promised!”

People Power vs. Fracking 6

In 2009, Food & Water Watch was researching threats to ground- water when we started hearing from members and donors in New York who were worried about the risk of water contamination from fracking, and from folks in Pennsylvania who were seeing fracking gain ground. They asked if we were looking into the is- sue and if we were going to do anything about it. A year later, we released our report “Not So Fast, Natural Gas.” “What the report found was that this wasn’t regulated; that there were all these issues and that it was a threat to our groundwater,” says Emily Wurth, Food & Water Watch Organizing Director. Food & Water Watch Joins a Grassroots Movement Growing in New York

Watch the video

Photo by Mike Markham

At the time, Food & Water Watch printed 1,000 hard copies of our reports to share with organiz- ers, members, and allies. “Not So Fast, Natural Gas” flew off the shelves; we had to reprint it several times. Meanwhile, our team members in New York be- gan attending meetings with community groups across the state who were fighting fracking. “There are so many beautiful parts of the state — from the Catskills to the Hudson Valley to

In the fall of 2010, filmmaker Josh Fox released Gasland , a doc- umentary on the growth of fracking and its impacts on families and towns across the country — including several in Pennsylva- nia, right across the border from New York. Gasland showed how frackers were tearing into communities with horrific consequenc- es: once-crystal clear water running brown, strange illnesses in people and pets, nauseating smells, and decimated farmland and forests. Meanwhile, the body of research on fracking was small but grow- ing, and it suggested that the industry was contaminating water and endangering those closest to its operations.

the Finger Lakes — that were at risk of being fracked,” Emily says. “And the gas industry landmen were going around trying to get people to lease their land. So, in towns across New York, people started organizing because that was a real threat.”

People Power vs. Fracking 8

VOICES FROM THE SOUTHERN TIER

They were hosting presentations in church basements, meetings in coffee shops. They were educating their neighbors about the danger that fracking posed. Many of these groups were talking about banning the practice entirely.

I live on 36 acres in Horseheads, New York, which is in the Southern Tier of the Finger Lakes and 10 miles from the Pennsylvania border. I became involved with the fracking fight when a deceptive landman convinced us that the edge of our property would be a good place for a pipeline from a well down the road. We did not know anything about fracking, but soon learned a lot about it as we watched them digging under our stream and wetlands. I was already a water activist, and I became quite concerned about pollution and the huge amounts of water that would be used. White trucks started multiplying in the area, and the red containers started showing up in the center of our town. Trains brought in sand and silica dust to uncovered warehouses. We felt like there was an invasion. A number of concerned citizens got together and created People for a Healthy Environment. PHE organized speakers at town and county legis- latures, bringing in experts. We planned many events to spread the word about fracking and protested many projects in the region. We knew we couldn’t let these projects pass and endanger our communities even further. Bonnie Chollet Anti-fracking activist and member of People for a Healthy Environment

Finger Lakes, NY

The Utica and Marcellus shale plays contain vast amounts of oil and gas, which came into the crosshairs of frackers starting in the late 2000s.

PHE meeting in 2019. Bonnie sits in the front row, fourth from left; Leslie, featured on the next page, sits second from left.

Map of the Marcellus and Utica shale plays in New York via the Energy Information Administration (March 2010)

People Power vs. Fracking 10

Cuomo Moves Toward Fracking In 2010, the New York state legislature passed a bill that would put a hold on fracking. Then-Governor Paterson vetoed it, but put in place his own moratorium on fracking, pending a study on its environmental impacts. The study would be conducted by the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) — putting the decision on fracking squarely in the hands of the governor’s office. When Andrew Cuomo became governor in 2011, the administra- tion began moving forward on regulations. Even back then, we understood this was an outrageous and unfounded move.

VOICES FROM THE SOUTHERN TIER

M y husband Frank and I moved to Erin, New York from Kansas during the summer of 2005. Oil companies drilled heavily in our area in Kansas, so when a landman arrived at our door in Erin, we said, “No, thanks, and don’t come back!” We had about seven acres of land, beautiful land, with open fields and woods run-through with walking paths. To this day, I think of the Erin home as “ours,” cherishing the memories we made there, such as our daughter’s marriage on the lawn, roaming the paths with our cats, and Frank building an outdoor bread oven. But before long, a compressor station was built less than a mile as the crow flies from our home, and we began hearing of fracking-contam- Leslie Potter Anti-fracking activist and founding member of People for a Healthy Environment

inated water in Dimock, Pennsylva- nia. To escape drilling territory, we decided to sell this place we’d come to love in 2010 — nevertheless, we continued to fight fracking and fossil fuel projects in the region with People for a Healthy Environment.

A view of the landscape outside Leslie Potter’s home in Erin, NY, threatened by fossil fuel infrastructure and the pros- pect of fracking.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo addresses press. Flickr.com / Marc A. Hermann

People Power vs. Fracking 12

Why Fight for a Ban in New York?

We Called for a Ban on Fracking in Spite of Conventional “Wisdom” At the time, any statewide ban — especially in a state with major below-ground gas reserves, like New York — was said to be politi- cally impossible. In 2012, a majority of people in the U.S. who knew about fracking supported it. The oil and gas industry was (and still is) a behe- moth in national politics. The industry’s messaging — “energy independence,” “bridge fuel,” “jobs and prosperity” — was every- where. Some national environmental organizations were partnering with gas companies and working with regulators on fracking. Several joined the Cuomo administration’s working group to craft frack- ing regulations.

Grassroots energy was already building in New York. People were mobilizing against fracking, and they felt deeply about it.

We had a better chance of stopping fracking before it started than curbing it once it began. Growing evidence of fracking’s harms and cautionary tales from other states bolstered our case.

Just the word “ fracking ” was a gift to the campaign. It sounded awful — like nothing you’d want near your home.

But given what we’d learned from front- line communities, it was clear that fracking couldn’t be made safer through regulations; it needed to be banned completely. And we decided we’d fight for a ban, no matter how impossible it seemed. So in March 2011, Food & Water Watch be- came the first national environmental orga- nization to call for a ban on fracking. Shortly thereafter, we released a second report, “The Case for a Ban on Gas Fracking.”

We saw potential in Governor Cuomo as a target. He had a lot of leverage points, like his larger political ambitions, that we could put pressure on to move him to act.

The media market was large and powerful in New York. We knew we could get lots of eyes on our work at the state and national level.

People Power vs. Fracking 14

“We can organize around an issue that people feel very deeply about and build the political power to actually make a difference.” Wenonah Hauter Food & Water Watch Founder and Executive Director

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How to Win an Unwinnable Fight

We Know People Power Is the Key to Change

Food & Water Watch’s call for a ban is representative of all our work. We demand what we know we need, not just what people say is politically possible. Then, we build a strategy to make it happen. That strategy is based entirely around building people power; by mobilizing a lot of people toward a single political goal, usually by pressuring a decisionmaker.

Y OUR STEPS TO CHANGE THE FUTURE

We build a strategy to make it happen

People Power vs. Fracking 16

Photos: Left page, Jessica Riehl; Right page, Simon Russell Photography

Here’s how, with our allies, we started in New York:

CONSIDER ALLIES, OPPONENTS,

AND WHERE THE POWER LIES

1 SET A CLEAR, BOLD GOAL

Once we have our goal and our target, we then step back and ask questions like:

Our goal was a statewide ban on fracking in New York — bold, direct, and easy to understand. “It was ‘Asking for what you really want, not just what you think you can get,’” says Emily. It also helped us gain allies and trust. “I think as an organization, we built up credibility really quickly because nobody nationally was calling for a ban,” says Alex Beauchamp, Food & Water Watch Northeast Director. “That just opened a lot of doors. People saw that we were the ones say- ing the right thing.”

IDENTIFY A TARGET

The target is the person or group of people who can give us what we want. Choosing well is essential to any fight. “You need to target some- one who’s elected, because the power you have is unelecting them, or affecting their funding,” explains Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Founder and Executive Director. Targeting Governor Cuomo was key to the campaign’s success. In the early days, there were many discussions about who to target — we con- sidered the legislature, various officials, the DEC. But it became clear that no matter what anyone else did on fracking, Cuomo would make the final decision. He also had lots of leverage points, like his aspirations for national poli- tics. This knowledge shaped our tactics as we raised the issue of frack- ing in New York to the national stage.

These first three steps are part of the Midwest Academy strategy chart that Food & Water Watch uses for most of our campaigns. “It’s a way of looking at power, our relationships to power, and how we can all come together to overcome entrenched power,” says Mark Schlosberg, Food & Water Watch Director of Public Affairs.

People Power vs. Fracking 18

“You can’t really win something like this without a coalition,” says Wenonah. When you’re challenging opponents as big as the New York political machine or the oil and gas industry, there’s power in numbers and in showing a broad base of support. So in 2012, we and key allies launched New Yorkers Against Fracking (NYAF) , which grew to hundreds of national, state, and local organizations. 4 BUILD AND MAINTAIN A COALITION

The Power of a Coalition

Why is a coalition important?

Steering Committee NEW YORKERS AGAINST FRACKING

What made NYAF so successful?

People Power vs. Fracking 20

A coalition pulls together people who have different priorities, skills, inter- ests, and goals. This makes trans- parency, a clear decision-making structure, and trust incredibly important for any coalition, and these are exactly what NYAF had.

Moreover, no matter what, the coalition was united by a shared stra- tegic vision and a single goal that no group would renege on. And the coalition decided on the vision and goal and acted on them together. For example, in the middle of the campaign, Cuomo proposed ban- ning fracking everywhere but the Southern Tier. This might have broken up the coalition, as some groups could have declared victory while others were still in jeopardy. But, Mark recalls, “All of NYAF was very clear that we were standing together. The whole state needed to be free of fracking. So, we rejected those kinds of so-called com- promises.” One of the main roles of the coalition was to attract funding and use that funding effectively. Right before NYAF formed, co-founder Dr. Sandra Steingraber won the Heinz Award and a $100,000 grant due to her writing on environmental health. Dr. Steingraber was and is a powerful voice in the anti-fracking movement, and she dedicated her Heinz Award to the coalition.

REMEMBERING DAVID BRAUN

I n 2024, the anti-fracking movement lost a monumental figure with David Braun’s passing. As a co-founder of United for Action, he helped launch NYAF and was a key leader in the fight to ban fracking in New York. He helped organize and emcee rallies — his bold, jovial, righteous, and booming voice was a staple at actions large and small. David was relentless — a workhorse in the pursuit of justice. He was also a major presence in the fight to ban fracking in Califor- nia and in the national movement. He co-founded Americans Against Fracking and worked closely with Food & Water Watch and others to build a network of grassroots anti-fracking organizations. But beyond all those accomplishments, David was a steadfast, giving, and loving friend to the many people who knew him. He also had a special su- perpower of relating to people. With David, you felt heard, and you felt his passion. He always be- lieved that together, we could win. Mark Schlosberg Food & Water Watch Director of Public Affairs Artist and activist Russell Greene

At the same time, major funders, most prominently the Park Foun- dation and the 11th Hour Foundation , provided the coalition with essential resources to counter the oil and gas industry’s power and build a movement. The combined resources of NYAF and our funders allowed us to partner with PR firm Berlin Rosen , which helped us respond to events quickly with press statements, cul- tivate press coverage of our work, and spread awareness about fracking and our movement to the public.

“NYAF was a vehicle for attracting resources,

harnessing resour- ces, and allocating them. No single group would have been able to raise the money and effectively utilize it.” Eric Weltman

Food & Water Watch New York Senior Strategist & Organizer

David Braun speaks at the Crossroads Rally in Albany in June 2013. Photo by Craig Christopher O’Connor Jr. CCOJR.COM

People Power vs. Fracking 24

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Once NYAF had our strategy, we then started deploying different tactics, each one laser-focused on our target and goal: Getting Cuomo to ban fracking. Here are six main ones: We Followed Cuomo Everywhere So He Couldn’t Ever Forget Fracking 1 In the fall of 2012, we heard that Cuomo was going to be touring D’Addario Strings, a factory on Long Island making parts for musical instruments. Within a few days, Food & Water Watch and NYPIRG got a busload of students to rally outside the factory. New York organizer Eric Weltman easily got inside and found Cuomo being interviewed by the press. “He was clearly dumbfounded that there was an anti-fracking ral- ly on Long Island,” remembers Eric. “From his perspective, to the extent that he thought about fracking, I’m sure he was aware that it would be done hundreds of miles away from Long Island. So, I think that was the first moment where he realized, ‘Oh, this thing is big.’”

Putting the Pressure on Cuomo Through Bold Tactics

This tactic is called birddogging — we follow our target to different public appearances and pressure them to speak on our issue. NYAF organized over 100 birddogs over the course of the campaign, remembers Alex. Some were a scramble; we’d get two hours' notice that Cuomo would be at an event and get 10 people there, but at least Cuomo would see us.

He couldn’t ever forget fracking

People Power vs. Fracking 26

We followed Cuomo to fundraisers, his polling place, and to the state fair each year. We showed up at his book launch event in Manhattan, where protestors outnumbered attendees. We mobilized Skidmore students to birddog Cuomo during a retreat deep in the Adirondacks, Alex recalls. This helped keep fracking top-of-mind for the governor. In the fall of 2014, just months before the ban, Cuomo told reporters a sto- ry about showing up to an event with his daughter. She had joked that it had to be the wrong venue, because there were no fracking protestors outside. Cuomo called us “literally the most prevalent protest group in the state by far.” We followed him outside of the state, too. In 2014, the Food & Water Watch California team helped organize a birddog as Cuomo fund- raised in Hollywood. When he traveled to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina and to Iowa, NYAF took out full-page ads in local newspapers. Even away from home, Cuomo couldn’t forget us. “When NYPIRG joined the fight to ban fracking with NYAF, we immediately saw how motivated our college student members were to join the fight, too. Students from Buffalo to Binghamton to New York City and Long Island joined birddog rallies. We burned up the gov- ernor's phones with call-in drives, and we knocked on doors statewide. With how broad and deep the coalition was, we were impressed by how well it was managed and how quickly we could react.” Megan Ahearn Program Director at NYPIRG

People Power vs. Fracking 28

PEOPLE ARE THE REAL POWER

W e knew early on that playing nice with those at the top, like state agencies and Cuomo himself, would just result in softer policies that wouldn’t adequately protect those most in dan- ger. We needed a full ban, not regulations, and we needed to build the political pressure to compel the governor to do the right thing. While Food & Water Watch does ally and cultivate relationships with leaders who fight for our issues, we also know that real power and real change comes from the grassroots; from building people power to hold politicians accountable to their constituents. This approach allows us to call for actual progress instead of half-mea- sures. It’s how we demand what we need, not what we think we can get — and how we win. Grassroots Pressure and Bold Goals Led to Real Change

Range of Constituencies 2

We Organized with a Broad

As with the coalition, we knew that to raise the issue of fracking, we needed lots of influential groups on our side. We looked at where the power was in the state, and then organized with these groups to focus and amplify their op- position. That included vintners, farmers, chefs, celebrities, faith leaders, health professionals, local elected officials, and more. Indigenous communities provided early leadership and moral clarity in the call for a fracking ban. For many of these groups, fracking directly threatened their livelihoods or way of life, especially when it came to contamination that would harm the state’s water, food supplies, farmland, and livestock. SEE THE PHOTOS

Anti-fracking activists call on Cuomo to ban fracking at a Washington, D.C. rally in July 2012.

People Power vs. Fracking 30

“In addition to building our coalition to ban fracking with scientists, health professionals, business leaders, and local elected officials, we worked with artists, actors, musicians, and other influencers to elevate the issue to a broader audience. These voices were critical to moving fracking into a wider audience, engaging more New Yorkers, and putting additional pressure on the governor to take action.” Julia Walsh Frack Action Campaign Director

Photo by Susan Wozny

People Power vs. Fracking 32

Much of this support bubbled up organically, as these celebrities themselves recognized the threat of fracking. They used their plat- forms to elevate the issue and the campaign, giving it more reach, credibility — and fun! One of the movement’s biggest events occurred in May 2012, soon after NYAF’s launch, when actors Mark Ruffalo and Melissa Leo hosted a benefit concert and rally. The concert was a star-studded affair, featuring musicians like Natalie Merchant, Joan Osborne, Toshi Reagon, and the Akwesasne Women’s Choir. Speakers from NYAF and frontline communities punctuated the performances with emotional testimonies.

Mark Ruffalo

Pete Seeger

We Worked With Star Power to Spread the Word 3

Photo by Jessica Riehl

One of the campaign’s major advantages was the outpouring of support from public figures. Actor Mark Ruffalo spoke out against fracking before NYAF formed and joined the coalition’s advisory committee. Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon became steadfast allies, rallying more than 180 artists to join Artists Against Fracking; notably, they put up a billboard along the Major Deegan Expressway calling on Cuomo to “Imagine There’s No Fracking.” In 2013, musician Pete Seeger brought the issue of fracking to Farm Aid, an annual benefit concert for family farmers, and he joined NYAF’s “State of the State” rally that year.

Photo by Jessica Riehl

Natalie Merchant

Photo by Susan Wozny

People Power vs. Fracking 34

Photo by Jessica Riehl

Major rallies like this were full of joy, hope, and passionate defiance. They showed the power, strength, and size of the movement, and reaffirmed to folks that they were far from alone. And these rallies not only forced Cuomo to confront us in-person — he also had to confront the media coverage and attention that we drove.

The event was turned into a film by Jon Bowermaster titled Dear Gov- ernor Cuomo , which we screened in living rooms and at house parties and fundraisers across the state. We did the same for Gasland , too, to raise awareness about the harms of fracking and the industry’s at- tempts to gloss over them. High-profile media like this was essential to spreading the word about fracking. We Rallied to Bring New Yorkers Together and Show Our Power 4 “To stop anything that has real power behind it — and of course the fossil fuel industry has endless money — you need real demonstra-

tions of people power.” Alex Beauchamp Food & Water Watch Northeast Region Director

Every January, Governor Cuomo gave his “State of the State” address in the aptly named Egg, a concert venue connected to the State Capitol by a long hallway. Before each State of the State, he made his way from the Capitol to the Egg, along with New York lawmakers. This was the perfect opportunity to confront Cuomo. In 2013 and 2014, NYAF mobilized protesters to travel to Albany and fill the concourse, hold- ing signs and demanding that the governor ban fracking. As Alex remem- bers, the shouts of more than 2,000 New Yorkers echoed off the marble floor, creating a din that every lawmaker in New York could hear as they followed Cuomo into the Egg.

Major rallies like this were full of joy, hope, and passionate defiance.

People Power vs. Fracking 36

FEBRUARY Sandra Steingraber, Mark Ruffalo, and Josh Fox join NYAF in a rally on the Million-Dollar Staircase at the New York State Capitol.

NEW YORK Mass Mobilizations to Ban Fracking in

Photo by Susan Wozny

JUNE More than 2,000 New Yorkers meet in Albany at the Cross- roads rally .

AUGUST About 2,000 New Yorkers say “Don’t Frack New York” in a march through Albany . 2012

Photo by Jessica Riehl

JANUARY More than 2,000 New Yorkers rally ahead of the State of the State . 2014

Photo by Justin Claassen

JANUARY Pete Seeger, Natalie Merchant, and more than 1,500 New York- ers join NYAF outside of the State of the State , the biggest rally at this event to date.

2013

SEPTEMBER NYAF makes fracking a major issue at the People’s Climate March , the biggest climate march to date with 400,000 in attendance.

JANUARY Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon join NYAF to deliver 200,000 anti-frack- ing comments to the DEC on its proposed fracking regulations.

People Power vs. Fracking 38

Photo by Simon Russell Photography

We Took Every Opportunity Within the Administrative Process to Make Our Voices Heard

Throughout these processes, tensions stayed high. “There were any number of moments where we could have lost,” says Eric. But we also knew that the more delays, the better, adds Alex: “Any time you’re trying to get someone to not do something, usually, if you’re going to win, it starts with winning multiple delays.” These administrative flashpoints helped us build momentum, as each one pushed us closer to a victory and showed the force of the move- ment. We Changed Public Opinion by Uplifting the Science and the Stories 6 While we campaigned against fracking in New York, studies on frack- ing’s harms were coming out one after another. NYAF worked tirelessly to uplift this science to the public. In 2012, Dr. Sandra Steingraber co-founded Concerned Health Profes- sionals of New York (CHPNY) , an initiative of health professionals and scientists, to help educate the public. In the summer of 2014, Con- cerned Health Professionals released its first compendium gathering all the health and environmental science on fracking at the time. Since then, CHPNY has released eight more editions of the compendium as the research on the harms of fracking continues to grow. As Dr. Steingraber noted at the time, “We are working in a moving stream of data, and it’s overwhelmingly damning.”

Throughout the campaign, the Cuomo administration moved agency processes on potential fracking regulations. These processes drew out for years, as the administration kicked the can down the road — but we followed it every step of the way. NYAF knew that these processes themselves weren’t going to get us what we wanted, but each step presented a great opportunity to highlight the problems with fracking and show our power. For example, at the end of 2012, the DEC opened draft regulations to public comment. Not only were these regulations themselves rushed — the DEC opened a rushed 30-day comment period over the winter holidays, perhaps hoping folks would be too distracted to notice. We weren’t going to let this slide. In a campaign spearheaded by Dr. Sandra Steingraber called “ 30 Days of Fracking Regs ,” NYAF chal- lenged New Yorkers to send in 30,000 comments by the deadline. We ultimately generated 200,000. Then, in January, the coalition joined Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon to hand-deliver all 200,000 com- ments to Cuomo’s office.

Photo courtesy of Frack Action

People Power vs. Fracking 40

Dr. Sandra Steingraber (middle) at a NYAF Rally. Photo by Jessica Riehl

Dr.Steingraber

A central concern with fracking was the risk of contamination to New York City’s drinking water , which is famously clean and comes from upstate springs. At the time, we knew that the fluid in fracking was a cocktail of tox- ic chemicals, salt, sand, and water, much of which returns to the surface further contaminated and must be disposed of. We knew that leaks, spills, explosions, and fracking itself jeopardized local waterways or groundwater sources that communities depend on for drinking water. Between 2005 and 2009, 14 oil and gas companies injected un- derground 10.2 million gallons of fluids containing known or sus- pected carcinogens and 30 million gallons of diesel fuel, which contains the carcinogen benzene.

All the way back in 2010, researchers had already found that: *

“We were unrelenting in our communications work, garnering a continuous drumbeat of sto- ries that emphasized the harms of fracking, spoke to the breadth of the opposition, and pres- sured the governor to ban it. Through our com- munications campaign, alongside the tremen- dous work of health professionals and scientists, the New York movement served to define frack- ing across the country and the world as a public health, environmental, and climate disaster.”

25% of fracking chemicals could cause cancer

37% could disrupt our endocrine systems

John Armstrong Frack Action Statewide Grassroots Coordinator

40-50% could affect nervous, immune, and cardiovascular systems

As one former DEC technician said in 2012, “If you were looking for a way to poison the drinking water supply, here in the north-east you couldn't find a more chillingly effective and thorough method of doing so than with hydraulic fracturing.” Other communities had already experienced this first-hand. The residents of Dimock, Pennsylvania became faces of the anti-fracking movement after a fracking company poisoned their drinking water supply. Residents-turned-activists began traveling the country to shed light on what they were experiencing. NYAF partnered with Dimock residents to share their stories with New Yorkers. We brought volunteers, donors, organizers, and elect- ed officials to Dimock and towns throughout Pennsylvania that had suffered similar harms.

*From Colborn et al. “Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective.” (September 2011)

People Power vs. Fracking 44

Countering Big Oil and Gas’s PR Machine

Dimock resident Craig Stevens carries a jug of contaminated water from the town at a rally.

This work pitted us against a well-oiled PR machine. In 2010, the oil and gas industry spent $1.2 million lobbying against moratori- um bills in New York, outspending supporters of the bills by 4 to 1. In 2012, ExxonMobil spent $2.1 million in the state on lobbying, making it the second-biggest spender — and $2 million of that was for ads promoting fracking. But the coalition had its own formidable publicity campaign, on top of having the science and the truth on our side. With com- pelling science communicators like Dr. Steingraber elevating the research and our own research on fracking and the industry, we defeated Big Oil and Gas’s messaging and brought the truth to New York and beyond.

“After every trip, particularly standing close to compressor stations, and every time coming home, it was just nausea, fatigue; physically feeling unwell after being surrounded by this incredibly heavy, dangerous, extractive process. You can talk about these things, and it’s great to have the facts — but what really affects people is feeling it, experiencing it, being in the face of a compressor station that's making noise 24/7, putting out toxic emissions all day, every day, for eternity.” Isaac Silberman-Gorn Former organizer with Citizen Action

From 2005 to 2010, the 10 largest natural gas

producers and 2 trade associ- ations spent more than $370 million on lobbying nationwide.

People Power vs. Fracking 46

Myth-busting the Oil & Gas Industry

Successfully Shifting Public Opinion When we began the campaign in 2012, just 35% of Americans who knew about fracking opposed it. In 2014, the percentage of Americans opposed to fracking reached 47%, and just two years later this became a majority. At the same time, grassroots groups were achieving major wins close to home. By the time we won a statewide ban, local governments had passed 200 bans and moratoria across the state. By 2014, more than 60% of New York’s land atop the Marcellus Shale was off-limits to fracking. The tide was turning, in great part thanks to the statewide movement to ban fracking. “More than a decade ago, the science was clear: fracking is a major threat to our climate because of emissions of unburned methane. Claims by Big Oil and Gas that fracked gas could be a bridge fuel were completely disingenuous. The U.S. has now grown to be the biggest pro- ducer of gas globally, by far, leading to globally significant increases in methane. The U.S. and the world must move away from all fossil fuels ASAP, including fracked gas.” Dr. Robert Howarth Professor at Cornell University and Food & Water Watch board member

Fracking isn’t a bridge fuel — it’s a gangplank toward climate chaos. In 2011, Drs. Robert Howarth, Renee Santoro, and Tony Ingraffea published a groundbreaking study that showed fracking shale gas has a worse climate im- pact than conventional gas, oil, or coal.

Regulations could not fix the fracking industry’s issues, which already included explosions, toxic chemical spills, livestock killings, and more. Fracking chemicals and methane pose a huge threat to human health, and thanks to policy, the fracking in- dustry can keep what toxic chemicals it uses a secret.

State and industry numbers were highly inflated, and fracking jobs are incredibly dangerous. FWW research found that fracking posed economic risks to many of New York’s farms and tourist towns by endangering the state’s water, food sources, and beautiful land- scapes.

People Power vs. Fracking 48

SECTION

While others said this campaign was unwinnable — and at many points, the possibility of a loss loomed large — the momentum and energy of the campaign were infectious. “In some ways, in hindsight, this was like a dream campaign. People cared so much, and there were so many people willing to give up their free time for this, because they felt that deeply about it.”

Winning a Ban on Fracking in New York

Alex Beauchamp Food & Water Watch Northeast Region Director

All of this work culminated on December 17, 2014, when Cuomo held the final cabinet meeting of the year in Albany. In a surprise turn of events, the State Health Commissioner and the head of the DEC spoke against allowing fracking to move forward. Said Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, “I asked myself, 'Would I let my family live in a community with fracking?' The answer is no. I therefore cannot recommend anyone else's family to live in such a community either." Fracking was effectively banned in New York. “There were panicked email messages that morning from people worried we were going to lose,” remembers Emily. “So there were screams of joy in our office when we heard the news!” NYAF had already planned to march in Albany once again in Jan- uary 2015. But now, the coalition was pivoting — we would be marching to celebrate a victory.

From “unwinnable” to a “dream campaign.”

Food & Water Watch New York staff watch the December 17 cabinet meeting livestream as Cuomo announces a ban on fracking.

Activists gather in New York City to celebrate the announcement of New York’s fracking ban.

New York Shows the United States What’s Possible New York’s fracking ban wedged opened the door to subsequent state bans and and action at the federal level. For the first time, peo- ple saw that banning fracking was possible. It has now become a mainstream environmental issue, not just the outlandish call of a fringe group.

“We created the climate where it was okay to call for a ban on fracking. And that was one of the goals when we started Food & Water Watch — to open the space for tak- ing harder stands against corporations.” Wenonah Hauter Food & Water Watch Founder and Executive Director Besides protecting New Yorkers from fracking, the ban cleared the runway for future wins, shutting down fossil fuel projects in the Northeast and beyond. “Fighting fracking in New York got us really organized to be able to do other things, like fighting and winning against the Con- stitution Pipeline,” says Mary Finneran, an activist from Painted Post, New York. From pipelines carrying gas from other states; to compressor sta- tions allowing more gas to move through states; to wells drilled by means other than fracking — the movement to fight oil and gas production is far from over. “We’re not done,” Mary says. “We need to stop all natural gas infrastructure in New York state and globally.”

Recently, she joined Food & Water Watch and other grassroots groups in taking on a new fight: against CO 2 fracking. In 2023, a company announced plans to pursue a loophole in New York’s fracking ban by using carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to frack instead of water. But in just a few short months of organizing, the state legislature passed a bill to ban CO 2 fracking. This rapid response would have been unimaginable ten years ago; it is a testament to the anti-fracking movement’s legacy and con- tinued strength.

In January 2024, the Food & Water Watch NY team joined Isaac Silber- man-Gorn (far left), Julia Walsh (third from left), and Renee Vogelsang (far right) in Albany to call for a ban on CO 2 fracking.

We need to stop all natural gas infrastructure in New York state and globally.

People Power vs. Fracking 54

Milestones in the Nationwide Fight Against

FRACKING

NOVEMBER Food & Water Watch and al- lies launch the Pennsylvanians Against Fracking coalition.

2012

Global Frackdown 2014 events in Bulgaria, Morocco, Peru, and Long Beach, NY.

SEPTEMBER Food & Water Watch spearheads the first Global Frackdown, a day of action that includes over 200 events across 20 countries. DECEMBER Americans Against Fracking launches with 100 organizations nationwide, including Food & Water Watch.

DECEMBER Governor Cuomo’s adminis- tration announces a statewide fracking ban for New York!

OCTOBER The largest Global Frackdown boasts more than 300 events in over 30 countries, representing every continent.

Americans Against Fracking delivers over 650,000 comments to ban fracking on federal lands in 2013.

2015

2013

2014

MAY Maryland passes a two-and-a-half- year moratorium on fracking. NOVEMBER Senator Jeff Merkley introduces the “Keep It in the Ground Act” to end federal fossil fuel leases on public lands and water, followed by a House version in 2016.

MAY Californians Against Fracking launch- es with more than 100 organizations for a statewide ban.

Food & Water Watch joins allies to call on then-California Governor Jerry Brown to ban fracking as he heads to the Paris Climate Conference in 2015.

People Power vs. Fracking 56

OCTOBER A majority of Americans now oppose fracking. 2016

2019

MAY Washington state passes a ban on fracking.

JUNE Oregon passes a five-year moratorium on fracking.

2017

Food & Water Watch marches with more than 1,000 activists and allies in Annapolis, MD in March 2017, calling on the legislature to ban fracking statewide.

APRIL Governor Hogan signs Maryland’s fracking ban into law.

FEBRUARY After years of opposition, develop- ers cancel their proposed Consti- tution pipeline, which would have carried fracked gas from Pennsylva- nia to New York and New England.

2020

2021

“Unless you live in one of a handful of small towns in Garrett County, most households — including ours — rely on water wells. Seeing one’s home and community on a Texas oil & gas company’s development map forever changed our lives and our view of the world. From that moment, we were engaged and working to protect ourselves, our water, and everything that we valued about life in a rural community. Governor Andrew Cuomo had done what Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley would not. By banning fracking, New York showed us that responsible public officials could be counted on to heed their state’s findings on risks to public health. The victory in New York gave us the courage to fight for a moratorium, and ultimately,

FEBRUARY Ten years after passing a moratorium, the Delaware River Basin Commission permanently bans fracking in the Del- aware River Basin, covering parts of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

OCTOBER The New York DEC makes a landmark decision to deny permits for two gas- fired power plants: an NRG plant in Astoria, Queens and a Danskammer plant in Orange County.

2023

MAY New York passes the All-Elec- tric Building Act, banning gas hook-ups in new buildings.

for a ban on fracking in Maryland.“ Nadine Grabania

Founding member of Citizen Shale, a grassroots organization in Garrett and Allegany counties, MD

The Food & Water Watch NY team birddogs Governor Kathy Hochul, calling her to ban fracked gas in new buildings.

People Power vs. Fracking 58

Photo courtesy of Linda DuBois Carroll

2024

FEBRUARY California’s Department of Conservation unveils a plan to phase out fracking.

MARCH New York State legislature passes a ban on fracking with carbon dioxide.

The Fight Continues

“We participated in the fight to ban fracking in San Benito County, our home county and where we were elementary school teachers for over 34 years. We didn’t want to see our beautiful county destroyed by fracking and were worried about the water use and contamination since we were going through a record drought.

Food & Water Watch joins more than 75,000 climate activists in New York City for the March to End Fossil Fuels in September 2023, the largest march calling for the end of fossil fuels to date. Photo by Ken Schles

The win against fracking in New York has propelled the anti-frack- ing movement and the broader climate movement to new fights and more victories. For Food & Water Watch, it was the biggest confirmation yet that our theory of change works; that building people power to pressure leaders can score monumental wins. These fights have only gotten more dire as the dangers of climate change and Big Oil and Gas continue to grow. The industry and its political allies continue to push drilling, dirty infrastructure, and fossil fuel exports while trying to convince the public that dirty energy schemes like carbon capture, factory farm gas, and hydrogen are clean energy solutions. But grassroots organizations across the country are fighting these projects against powerful interests and long odds. Togeth- er, we’re making huge progress — from stopping proposed gas- fired power plants, to holding petrochemical plants accountable,

So we started to organize with other neighbors and reached out to na- tional environmental groups for support to our fracking ban initiative. Food & Water Watch was the only organization that answered our call. With their support, we won the first fracking ban by voter initiative in California in 2014. Soon after, we heard about the New York fracking ban, and that gave us new hope that we could do the same here in California. That hope propelled us to a winning campaign to ban fracking and oil drilling in Monterey County, the third-largest oil-producing county in California.“ Larry and Margaret Rebecchi Anti-fracking activists in San Benito County, CA

People Power vs. Fracking 60

to passing local measures to block fracking.

As we look back on the win in New York and the ten years since, we see big challenges. But we also see that change is possible; that we have come so far and there is a clear path ahead. As we go down that path together, we must take the lessons we’ve learned to build on our progress, fight like we live here, and win a livable climate future for everyone.

People Power vs. Fracking 62

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