It was a Gas: The National Frack Attack Summit in Dallas

06 Mar

It was a Gas: The National Frack Attack Summit in Dallas

By Editor Green So...

March 6, 2013

By Phillip Shinoda

Hundreds of people from all over the country converged on Dallas for the Frack Attack Summit, March 2-3. There were people from Philadelphia to San Francisco, and from Wyoming to Texas. Their common interest was the effect of hydraulic fracturing for gas on the environment: water, air, health, community.

On the first day, one of the highlights was a Skype connection with Gasland filmmaker Josh Fox, who recounted his travels and the people with whom he spoke.

Telling Their Stories:
Left, Sharon Wilson, aka "Texas Sharon," longtime anti-drilling activist and organizer for Earthworks.
Right, Calvin Tillman, the former mayor of Dish Texas who moved from Wise County in 2002 to escape fracking.  "Mayor Calvin Tillman Leaves Dish, Texas Fearing 'Fracking' Effects On Family's Health "

Telling Their Stories:
Left, Kim Nguyen, student (Denton Off Fossil Fuel and Tar Sand Blockade),
Julie Crawford, who's fighting the Keystone XL Pipeline's eminent domain policy, Crawford Family Farm Defense Fund Concert April 20th.
Right, John Fenton of Pavillion, Wyoming, talking about the effect of gas drilling on irrigation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQG33c64l-0

Left, Lisa Fithian, Training for Non-Violent Social Change
Right, Christine Cordero and Patrick Reinborough of the Center for Story-Based Strategy

Storytelling: Left, "I'm not listening" to the information about fracking.
Right, "The only way to fight fracking is cooperation."

Lots of workshops. Many, many discussions.

Left, Deborah Rogers, "The Real Economics of the Shale Gas," founder of Energy Policy Forum www.envergypolicyforum.org and member of League of Women Voters in Arkansas.
Right, Rita Beving of Public Citizen, Molly Rooke of the Dallas Sierra Club and Dewayne Quertermous of the Fort Worth Sierra Club