Actions on Anti-fracking in Monterrey

Dear Activists and Stewards of our land,

Whatever your skills and interests are, there is some way to put them to use for the earth. Thank you for caring about this planet and wanting to use your energy for saving the land you love.

This is a very important time for the anti fracking movement in California, and there are various groups working on this. Rising Tide Monterey Bay may be the most local to you, focused on the Monterey Shale, and perhaps best able to guide you to Monterey specific resources.

https://www.facebook.com/RisingTideMontereyBay?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser

They’re having a camp out in Monterey County, at Williams Hill Recreation Area & Campground, May 10th, with teach ins on Saturday about fracking and direct action –

https://www.facebook.com/events/100171366853809/

As you probably know, there are various angles to work from … some groups focus more on legislative, others more on direct action. I believe both are important. This is also a key time for legislative pressure in California, as earlier this week three moratorium bills passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. This is fantastic, and happened only because of people calling and writing the Committee members, but it’s just the first hurdle. The bills now need to go to the Appropriations Committee, which will be challenging. There’s a great list serve, Unfrack California, with news, discussions, strategy, and important info for targeting legislators … Would you like to be added to that list? Let me know if you’d like me to give your email to the moderator.

A few other resources you may be interested in –

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/take-action/in-your-community/pacific-region/california/

(Both groups are doing great work on this … their action alerts, petitions, and signing up for their mailing lists are always good ways to help.)

https://www.facebook.com/StopFrackingLosAngeles — Great FB page, informative articles, photos, events, action alerts. (“Stop Fracking Los Angeles” is an old name that stuck as the FB address, the current name is Stop Fracking California State and the focus is California wide, not just LA.)

cate@greendwellings.com – Contact for 350.org Bay Area sub group on fracking.

http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/13135 – Article about current legislative good news and next steps. Link to petition at bottom of article – please sign.)

http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php – Contact info for Governor Jerry Brown. It would take a lot of pressure for him to get behind a ban on fracking, but it’s possible with enough people getting involved. Call / write and ask him to ban fracking in California.

And of course, there’s always just talking with people as you go about life, helping them see through the deception of the oil industry. The most common talking point they use is “we’ve been fracking for over 60 years … ” “Fracking” was invented by Halliburton in the 1940’s, so this statement is technically true. It’s also an example of how they twist the truth and intentionally mislead, because the methods of fracking in use today – especially in the case of the Monterey Shale which has very tight, hard to access oil – are way more intense in terms of pressure, water usage, horizontal drilling, and far more dangerous than the fracking that has gone on for decades. The media often takes the industry quote of “the past 60 years” at face value, so this is an important thing to address, especially when talking with people near where fracking may happen.

http://www.globalexchange.org/blogs/peopletopeople/2013/04/04/corporate-executives-say-fracking-is-good-for-you-do-you-trust-them/ – Good link to more info on the issue, and Shannon Biggs from Global Exchange helps communities work at the local level to keep out fracking.

Also, educating about solutions … they say we need to frack for domestic energy, yet a lot of our energy is intended for export. One can agree that we shouldn’t be importing oil from Saudi Arabia and also be against destructive energy extractions here. The links at the bottom of my email are about the potential of renewables, and the first link in bold is a blueprint for NY State to be powered entirely by wind, water and sunlight. That team of researchers is working on a blueprint for a renewable CA next, followed by the other 50 states. : ) !!

This is enough info for now, but feel free to contact me if you have any questions or anything you’d like to share.

Thanks so much,
Ellen Osuna

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass
springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of
nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.”
– Eleonora Duse

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