“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.
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People Power vs. Fracking 54
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