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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
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People Power vs. Fracking 40
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