This is a victory for the citizens of the city of Denton.
For our families, for our health, for our homes, and for our future.
What does this fracking ban mean?
It means we don’t have to worry about what our kids are breathing at city playgrounds.
It means we can cheer on the Mean Green without fracking pollution blowing over the football field.
And it means we don’t have to worry about our property value taking a nose dive because frackers set up shop 200 feet away.
But this ban wouldn’t have passed without the tireless efforts of countless people concerned enough about their city to help make this happen.
Unfortunately, not all is sweetness and light.
We know the oil and gas industry is going to sue to try to overturn the fracking ban.
But we lawyered this ban every which way before launching this effort. And we consulted legal precedents for Texas home rule cities like Denton. And we’re confident it will stand up.
We know the oil and gas industry is going to try to use our own state government against us by directing its paid flunkies to overturn the ban in the legislature.
To them I say, if you vote to overturn this ban, never again say you’re against big government
Because politicians didn’t pass this ban.
This ban is the voice of the citizens of Denton speaking directly to the fracking industry, and local, state and national government: WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH.
So try to overturn it if you will. But know that if you do, you are on the side of corporate interests and against the people.
Because this isn’t a ban on fracking everywhere.
If YOU want fracking in YOUR COMMUNITY, fine! Keep it.
But in Denton, we don’t.
And if you force it on us anyway, that is the VERY DEFINITION of big government.
To those in industry and government who are concerned by the success of this ban, rather than try to overturn it, address why we had to pass it.
Because the ban was our LAST RESORT. We tried for years to get government and industry to work with us. And they wouldn’t. This was the only way left open to us. And so we took it.
If you want to prevent more bans, especially in towns that know drilling best, do yourselves a favor and listen to concerned citizens. Because if you don’t, you may wind up reaping what you’ve sown.
MEANING OF FRACKING BAN VICTORY IN DENTON, TEXAS, Statement of Earthworks Energy Program Director Bruce Baizel Press Release by Earth Works, November 4, 2014
“The passage of a fracking ban in Denton Texas is first and foremost a victory for Denton residents. It’s a victory for their families’ health, for their economy, and for their future.
But it’s also a victory for communities across the country.
Denton, Texas, is where hydraulic fracturing was invented. It’s home to more than 275 fracked wells. It’s a place that knows fracking perhaps better than any other. If this place in the heart of the oil and gas industry can’t live with fracking, then who can?
The answer, at present, is ‘no one’.
That’s why fracking bans and moratoria are spreading like wildfire across the country.
And the oil and gas industry has no one but itself to blame.
[Refer also to:
Denton Drilling: A Blog by Adam Briggle
“Yes, We Can Say No.”
