To: The Arizona State House, The Arizona State Senate, and Governor Doug Ducey

No Fracking Pledge

Help stop fracking by signing this pledge.

Why is this important?

Take The Pledge To Defend The Water Of 40 Million People
The water of over 40 million people who live in Arizona, Nevada, California, and Mexico is in extreme danger. Last year, the Bureau of Land Management began issuing permits to energy companies to drill for helium and ‘other carbon resources’ in the Holbrook Basin, after ignoring 80,000 citizens’ complaints. Shortly thereafter, a grassroots organization, NoFrackingAZ, was formed to fight against this irresponsible action. The State Land Department has now begun leasing lands to fracking companies.

This January, two State Representatives, Myron Tsosie (LD7) and Walt Blackman (LD6), introduced an anti-fracking bill to the State Legislature, only to have it die in the Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee, when its Chair, Gail Griffin, decided to not even give it a hearing. Equally unfortunate was Rep. Blackman’s caving to pressure and rescinding his co-sponsorship.

More alarming still is the EPA’s intention to gut the Clean Water Act, removing all but a few sources of water from its protections. The proposed rule change, ‘Revised Definition of Waters of the United States,’ would make it impossible to fight against fracking based on protecting our water supplies, since most of them would no longer be protected.

In light of these frightening developments, No Fracking AZ is presenting the following pledge, which we hope all those concerned with our collective future will sign:

The Anti-Fracking Pledge of Resistance

By adding my name to the list below, I publicly pledge to take part in a diversity of effective acts of resistance to stop the use of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to extract helium or any other “carbon resources” (i.e. oil and natural gas) according to the following points of unity. We define ‘Resistance’ as a shared commitment to fight fracking by non-violent means.

Points of Unity

I agree that hydraulic fracturing, aka ‘fracking,’ is environmentally unsustainable, socially irresponsible, and an attempt by multinational oil and gas corporations to make a quick buck at the expense of rural people and healthy natural ecosystems.

I agree to resist hydraulic fracturing operations and those organizations that enable them, including:

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES:
Logging and bulldozing associated with the construction of infrastructure; the actual construction of infrastructure (well pads, compressor stations, pipelines, treatment plants, etc.); high volume water extraction from local waterways and ponds (This water is mixed with chemicals and injected underground during the actual process of hydraulic fracturing.); seismic testing, drilling, fracking, flaring, and the construction of toxic ‘brine pools’ or ‘flowback pond;’ reckless waste disposal methods (deep well injection, the spraying of well brine on roads, the dumping of flowback water into local waterways, the burying of toxic ‘residual waste’ in municipal landfills, etc.)

LEGAL, POLITICAL, AND LOGISTIC ACTIVITIES:

Manufacturers that supply raw materials; transportation operations that move raw materials, equipment and waste; land leasing, forced pooling, and the law firms that support these agreements; financiers, engineering firms, and subcontractors that perform critical support work; colleges and universities that invest their endowments, do research paid for by the gas industry, and censor research critical of fracking; any bureaucrat, candidate, politician or political party office that continues to enable the industry.

I will show solidarity with all others resisting the effects and spreading of fracking operations by contributing to a diverse campaign of community building, legislative resistance, and direct action. I will determine my own level of participation, whether it takes the form of engaging in constructive dialogue with fellow community members, speaking out at hearings and meetings, participating in community building events and trainings, taking part in direct action events, etc.

I am committed to pushing for more effective intervention in the natural gas industry by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), etc. I will also advocate for renewable energy sources of any kind, such as wind, solar, geothermal, etc. as an alternative to fracking becoming a national energy extraction priority. Hydraulic fracturing for helium or natural gas is no more of a responsible solution to fossil fuel dependence than mountain top removal coal mining, off-shore drilling, or the tar sands distillation megaprojects in Canada.

We stand together against the manipulation of our communities to further this destructive, nonrenewable resource boom.