While there isn’t a chance Republicans would ban fracking, 90,000 people signed petitions urging Democrats to include a ban in their party’s platform.
And thousands are expected to participate in the March for a Clean Energy Revolution in Philadelphia. It takes place on July 24, the day before the Democratic Convention begins.
People will demand an end to fracking, an end to drilling fossil fuels from the ground and a just transition to 100% renewable energy. Over 400 organizations have endorsed the goals.
“The Obama-era ‘all of the above’ energy policy needs to end, beginning with the party platform,” says RL Miller, of Climate Hawks Vote, which backs candidates that advocate for strong action on climate.
“The Democratic Party has been complicit in the US fracking boom which is poisoning communities and our climate,” says Emily Wurth at Food & Water Watch. “Any serious plan to combat climate change must include a ban on fracking, and as the committee develops the platform, they should heed the calls of the growing movement to ban fracking and keep fossil fuels in the ground.”
An incredible 137,000 fracking wells have been drilled in the US since 2005, putting over 15 million people within a mile of an oil or gas well. Over 10 years later, we’re just starting to see regulations to protect the air and water, after much of the damage has been done.
And has been the case for most polluting facilities, they are most often sited where African and Native Americans, and Latinos live, notes Anthony Rogers-Wright at Environmental Action. These “communities are disproportionately impacted by the toxic effects of fracking and its infrastructure. It’s time for the DNC, a political party that is totally dependent on the participation of People of Color, to show that our health is as important as our votes. Including a fracking ban in the party platform is an essential step to demonstrate this.”
A fracking ban would send a strong message to young voters, who want aggressive climate leadership.
The majority of Americans oppose fracking, according to a recent Gallop poll, and hundreds of communities have banned it, plus Vermont and New York.
Bernie Sanders strongly favors a ban – saying it’s too late for incremental measures. He’s a co-sponsor of Keep It In The Ground legislation, which puts an end to extracting fossil fuels from federal lands and waters. Hillary Clinton, who promoted fracking around the world as Secretary of State, views stringent regulations as a more practical approach, as she seeks to make the US a renewable energy superpower.
Union Makes Climate a Campaign Priority
The 2 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has voted to make climate a major plank of its state and federal election campaigns.
One of the largest unions left in the US, SEIU has been instrumental in the fight for a $15 minimum wage. It hopes to the same on climate.
“SEIU members live and work in some of the most polluted zip codes in America and are part of communities that are most impacted by climate change. We know first-hand that our fights for economic, racial and immigrant justice are inextricably linked to the fight for environmental justice,” says Mary Kay Henry, President.
“Our members adopted a platform today to take on the fight for environmental justice and to stand in solidarity with the rest of the labor movement to demand clean air and water, healthy and safe communities and a just transition for all workers affected by a transition to a clean energy economy,” she explains.
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You can submit what you would like to see included in the Democratic National Platform by June 18: https://www.demconvention.com/platform/
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