After recently moving here from New York and Connecticut, where fracking is a really big issue, it’s hard for me to believe that after all these years folks still don’t know what I’m talking about when I say the word “fracking”. Over the past two months, Boulder City Council members have meet to discuss fracking here in Boulder County. The talks aren’t really about if it is going to happen because it already is, the talks are about when and how more wells will be drilled in the area.

 Now the surprising part to me and to others at these meetings has been the lack of spine the City Council members seem to have when it comes to standing up and fighting for what each one of them claim they are already against: fracking, polluting the precious little water we have here, and the destruction of our environment. The reasons why they won’t enforce a ban are pretty clear. Cut it how you like, it’s all about money. And the oil and gas industry has a lot of it.

The question I have to ask is if they won’t stand up against Governor Hickenlooper and the oil and gas giants like Encana, then who will? The city of Longmont did, but the state is standing behind the gas companies in suing them. If more cities in Colorado stood up against the State and the oil and gas industrial complex and said, “This is not going to happen in my town,” would the government be foreced to listen and stand behind its people? The only way to find out is to try.

The video included below shows a short glimpse into the devastation fracking can cause you and your family. If you think you can sue the gas companies after the fact, think again. Once you frack, you can never go back. The Hagy family in West Virginia has been fighting the gas company for over 5 years. In the process, they’ve lost their home, their health, their friends, and their life savings. The attorney they have currently is the same person that represented the people in the Gulf during the BP oil spill and even he can’t get them anywhere.

#forwardonclimate article Video in article – please watch

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Sign Up and let your voice be heard :
http://act.350.org/signup/ForwardonClimate_Denver/

If we don’t speak up now, it will be too late when they start drilling. If you love your beautiful mountains and the landscapes that are ever present in Boulder Valley, or simply just drinking the water that comes out of your tap, then don’t let fracking come to Boulder County or Colorado. Together we will make a difference, but we must act now.

For more on fracking, visit:
http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/
http://vimeo.com/44367635
http://gofossilfree.org/
http://content.sierraclub.org/naturalgas/

For more on the Hagy family, visit:
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/west-virginia/wvsdce/2:2010cv01372/66976/30

From the peanut gallery: