We are the ones

Dear Governor Wolf,

We are the ones, Governor.

We are the ones whose experiences informed your decision to ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin.

We are the ones whose experiences contribute in large part to the “scientific and technical literature and the reports, studies, findings and conclusions of other government agencies” you reviewed.

We are the ones who live in those “regions outside the Delaware River Basin” where you found evidence of adverse impacts spanning more than a decade.

We are the ones whose air and water quality have been profoundly impacted as a result.

We are the ones who bristled when your statement regarding your vote to ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin referred to its “unique characteristics” because we know that every place has unique characteristics that are worth protecting from industrial polluters.

We are the ones who know that unique doesn’t mean more important and that the water that comes out of our taps is no less worthy of protection than the water that flows from taps in the basin.

We are the ones who have asked you repeatedly to meet with us, to visit our communities, to witness the impacts firsthand.

We are the ones you have never had time for.

We are the ones the Grand Jury talked about in its report.

We are the ones who have had to advocate for ourselves because our government has failed to advocate for us.

We are the ones who attend public meetings and public hearings, who testify and submit written comments to dockets, and who demand meetings and hearings when our government doesn’t think it’s important to hear from us.

We are the ones who protest and march and rally and sign letters and start petitions and write letters to editors and organize.

We are the ones who have been arrested on our own land and jailed for defending what we love.

We are the ones our government otherwise ignores.

We are the ones who are getting sick.

We are the ones who have lost loved ones.

We are the ones who rely on charity to get a few gallons of clean water each week.

We are the ones who live in those places that are disproportionately targeted by industrial polluters because of environmental racism, or poverty, or because we live in rural communities with low-population density.

We are the ones who once fell asleep to the songs of owls and crickets instead of diesel engines and jake breaks.

We are the ones whose children’s playgrounds sit in the shadows of drilling rigs.

We are the ones who have had to walk away from properties that are no longer worth what we still owe on them.

We are the ones who would love to move, but don’t have the means, or have the means, but don’t know where we can move to keep our families safe.

We are the ones who have cried when our trees have been felled.

We are the ones whose homes have exploded.

We are the ones who have signed non-disclosure agreements because our silence is the price we pay to get any compensation for the damage done to us.

We are the ones who advocate in solidarity with our friends and neighbors.

We are the ones who ask why our constitutional right to a healthy environment is never upheld.

We are the ones who know that the way to protect Pennsylvanians is to start the drawdown of greenhouse gas production now so we can ensure a just transition that doesn’t leave communities and workers behind.

We are the ones who know that taking virtually no action on climate change means we’re in for even worse impacts.

We are the ones whose children and every generation that follows will have to live with the consequences of this generation’s failure to act.

We are the ones whose dreams have been stolen.

We are the ones who would never have imagined that this is what our lives would become.

We are the ones you were elected to protect, Governor Wolf.

We are the ones you abandoned.