Our thoughts and opinions about gas extraction and related topics

Brook Lenker at the 2017 Climate March in Washington DC

Rise for Climate – September 8, 2018

FracTracker is pleased to join thousands of other organizations across the U.S. and around the world participating in Rise for Climate – a global day of action on Saturday, September 8th – to demand our leaders at every level of government commit to building a fossil fuel free world. We encourage all of our partners, supporters, followers, and website users to find and participate in an event near them.

The time has arrived for renewable energy, heightened efficiency, and smart policies that reduce carbon emissions and encourage healthy and just economies. With unequivocal science and data on our side, the swift, frightening realities of climate change must be shared loudly and boldly. The clean energy path to prosperity must be illuminated in the public’s eye. A recent analysis by E2 shows the country had nearly 3.2 million Americans working in wind, solar, energy efficiency, and other clean energy jobs in 2017. These jobs outnumber fossil fuel jobs 3 to 1. Working together, we can add to these numbers and accelerate the transition off fossil fuels.

Rise for Climate is a chance to demonstrate your concern, speak your mind, and resolve to fight for a habitable future. FracTracker staff will be out, too, doing their part. From San Francisco to Lansing, NY and Harrisburg, PA, we’re leading and engaging in activities – because it’s too important to stay home.

What are you doing tomorrow? The future is now.


By Brook Lenker, Executive Director, FracTracker Alliance

Ben Stout - Photo complements of OVEC

Remembering Ben Stout

In the fleeting passage of days, FracTracker enjoyed a long history with Dr. Ben Stout. The infamous biology professor at Wheeling Jesuit University served on our board since the inception of the organization in 2012. While we didn’t get to spend as much time with him as we would have liked, each reunion was a pleasure, a reconnection with an old friend.

Ben was wily and wiry, casual and confident. He exuded a passion for protecting people and nature from industry run amok. As a scientist and educator, he was thorough and curious, yet always bold and engaged; he genuinely cared about the Appalachian communities he knew so well. The Intelligencer in Wheeling noted how he was viewed as an environmental hero. He was too humble to accept such a label, but his revelatory research and staunch advocacy warrant the honor.

On August 3rdat age 60, Ben died from recurring cancer. Even heroes can’t live forever, but this one’s legacy won’t soon fade away. Godspeed, Ben Stout – you did a whole lot of good in this world!


Learn more about FracTracker’s Board of Directors

Feature image: Dr. Benjamin Stout. Photo courtesy of OVEC.

Erica Jackson, Community Outreach and Communications Specialist

Staff Spotlight: Erica Jackson

As part of FracTracker’s staff spotlight series, learn more about the newest member of the FracTracker team, Erica Jackson, and what she’ll be working on in the Pittsburgh tri-state region with us.

Time with FracTracker: Today is Erica’s fourth day

Education: University of Pittsburgh

Office Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Title: Community Outreach and Communications Specialist


Spotlight Interview

What will you actually do in that role?

Erica Jackson bio pic

Erica Jackson, Community Outreach and Communications Specialist. View bio

I’ll be working to share FracTracker’s resources with the public. This includes developing online content, providing tools and trainings for communities affected by fossil fuels, and partnering with other environmental organizations and researchers in the area. Much of my work will be on the community-scale, focusing on oil and gas development in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.

I’m also here to assist with grant reporting, data analysis, mapping, and the many other activities that keep FracTracker running.  Since today is my first day, I suspect I’ll have a better idea of these projects pretty soon!

Previous Position and Organization

Predoctoral Fellow in the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC), at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (Pittsburgh, PA)

How did you first get involved working on oil and gas issues / fracking?

I’ve always been interested in fossil fuel issues due to their connection with climate change, however it was not until I began researching their public health impacts that I was inspired to pursue opportunities to work in this field. Living in Pennsylvania where fracking occurs in backyards, it’s hard to ignore the risks oil and gas pose to the public, or the amount of activism and interest this topic generates. Working at CHEC was a great opportunity to familiarize myself with this issue and the data out there, as well as gain a better understanding of environmental health concerns. I’m always looking for ways to protect natural resources while also promoting healthy and sustainable communities, and working on oil and gas issues is a perfect way to do that.

What is one of the most impactful projects you are excited to be involved in with FracTracker?

I’m excited to partner with and support communities in the Ohio River Valley impacted by oil and gas. This region is at a critical point in its history, where the decisions being made now will shape the wellbeing and sustainability of the area over the next century. It’s challenging and contentious, but at a point where open data and clear communication of risks involved is vital – I’m looking forward to enhancing these efforts as a part of FracTracker.

Help us in addressing pressing energy issues

A Request from FracTracker’s Annual Fund Chair

Dear Friends,

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: The oil and gas industry is destructive. 

Their emissions cause climate chaos, and their political influence corrupts democracy. Petrochemical plastics pollute every corner of the planet, pipelines gouge our communities, and fracking poisons our air, water, land and food. 

Drilling demands unspeakable quantities of sand and water, while truck after truck whisks away the hazardous waste for disposal in a nearby state or the town next door. Imagine if you lived next to it. Many people don’t have to imagine; it’s their daily nightmare.

Too many people have been sickened, too many properties devalued. Too many lives have been disrupted. Enough is enough. We’re not going to take it anymore, and my friends at FracTracker are helping big time with the fight. They – and the army of groups with whom they work – are making a huge impact. 

Because of the critical work FracTracker does – at a local meeting considering proposed drilling, activists are armed with a local FracTracker map showing what’s at stake and where potential damage will occur. 

Because of the work FracTracker does – as the Delaware River Basin Commission considers allowing fracking-related water withdrawals and treated wastewater discharges in that pristine watershed, critical data from FracTracker in the form of cold hard scientific facts are woven into the testimony of organizations working together to stop this toxic intrusion.  

While Californian activists like me strive to accelerate the Golden State’s pivot away from dangerous and toxic drilling practices, FracTracker’s 2,500 foot setback analysis roots our calls for protections in sound science and evidence, and provides a clear pathway for what protecting public health and communities looks like for hundreds of thousands of Californians. 

And, as the E2 network rallies clean energy opportunities across the country, FracTracker is paving the way for a huge energy shift by mapping jobs in the renewable energy economy in numerous states.

Whether making compelling visualizations or synthesizing complex data, FracTracker provides the critical information and a scientific basis that makes campaigns protecting public health from harmful extraction possible. As a trusted ally, FracTracker is a force, forging a better future.  

As the end of the fiscal year looms, they need your help!

Please consider making a one-time donation or, even better, becoming a significant sustainer of this important work by joining FracTracker’s Empower Society. Whatever your gift – big or small – you can feel good knowing it nurtures work that truly matters. 

As a FracTracker board member and director of my own organization, Rootskeeper, I know that every dollar donated is used wisely. Thanks for your generosity and commitment to a vibrant tomorrow. Together, we will continue to change the world!

In solidarity and appreciation, 

David Braun at the 2017 Community Sentinel Award Reception in Pittsburgh, PA

David Braun
Annual Fund Chair, FracTracker Alliance
Director, Rootskeeper 

Support FracTracker

Appalachian Ohio: Where Coal Mining, Fracking, and National Politics Converge

The head of Murray Energy Corporation, Robert Murray, is very close to the highest office in the land. Such an association demands a close look at the landscape from which this corporation and its founder arouse.

Belmont County, Ohio’s most famous tycoon Robert Murray has established a close relationship with the Trump administration. This connection dates back to his $300,000 contribution to Trump’s inauguration. The intimacy of this relationship has been given new weight recently when it was revealed that a hug between Mr. Murray and the Department of Energy’s Secretary Rick Perry preceded a meeting where Mr. Murray presented the administration with a memo outlining a 16-point plan for removing some of the burdensome regulations put in place by Mr. Murray’s least favorite person former President Barack Obama.

Among the few consistent themes from this most inconsistent of presidents has been a fondness for coal and steel, where brawny men do essential work and are threatened not by shifting economics, but by greenies and weenies who want to shut them down. Mr Trump and Mr Murray both want environmental rules rolled back—Mr Murray because it would be good for his bottom line, and Mr Trump because a second consistent aim of his presidency is to reverse anything done by Barack Obama. It is doubtful whether policy shifts alone could revive coal mining, but the attempt to do so says much about how vested interests operate in this administration… Mr Trump played a hard-nosed businessman on TV, but Mr Murray is the real thing. – The Economist, 2018

Not only has Mr. Murray succeeded in capturing the hearts and minds of the Trump administration, he has demanded that his $300,000 contribution get his longtime Oklahoman lawyer, and former aide to the senate’s chief climate skeptic James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, the #2 spot behind Scott Pruitt at the EPA. Mr. Murray is so powerful that he managed to get Perry & Co. to fire the photographer that took the photo of the tender moment between Messrs. Perry and Murray.

Awkwardness aside, these situations could reasonably lead one to conclude that Perry and Pruitt are competing for Murray’s favor in the event they choose to run for higher office and need a patron with deep pockets. Mr. Murray would be in a real pickle if they both chose to run for the highest office in the land, with two fawning candidates potentially offering to one-up the other in terms of incentives and/or regulatory carve outs for Mr. Murray’s beloved King Coal.

Belmont County

Once the heart of Ohio Coal Country, Belmont Co. is now a major player on the hydraulic fracturing landscape, as well.

Given the growing influence of Mr. Murray and the coal industry writ large we thought it was time to do a deep dive into how Mr. Murray’s Appalachian Ohio home county of Belmont and surrounding counties have been altered by coal mining. We were also interested in how the coal industry has come to interact with the hydraulic fracturing industry, which has drilled 542 Utica wells in Belmont County alone since March 2012. These wells amount to 20% of all fracked wells in Ohio as of January 2018. The rate at which Utica wells are being permitted in Belmont County is actually increasing by about 1.5 to 2 permits per month or 5.5 to 7.8 times the statewide average (Figure 1).

Belmont County also happens to be the “all-time leader in coal production in Ohio” having produced 825 million tons since 1816 (ODNR, 2005). All of this means that the Ohio county that produces the most coal is also now The Buckeye State’s most actively drilled county.

Utica Wells Permits in Belmont County, Ohio Q1-2012 to Q1-2018

Figure 1. Monthly and cumulative hydraulically fractured wells in Belmont County, Ohio between Q1-2012 and Q1-2018

Photos of coal mining operations in Belmont County, OH. Flyovers courtesy of SouthWings:

An End to Coal

However, the days of coal’s dominance – and easily mineable coal – in Ohio appear to be coming to an end.

Per mine, Ohio’s mines produce about 30% of the national average and 43% of the state averages (Figure 2). Ohio’s mines only produce about 10% of what the mega Western mines produce on a per-mine basis, and much less than states like New Mexico and Texas, as well.

Even with automation, the barriers to a return of coal in Appalachia are formidable given that most of the easily recoverable coal has already been mined. Additionally, the landscape is more formidable and not as conducive to the large strip-mine and dragline operations of  the Powder River Basin, which produce roughly 8.5 million tons of coal per mine, compared to an average of 330,000 tons per mine in Appalachia. (Figure 2).

Coal Production by State (Thousand Tons, 2016)

Figure 2. Total coal produced across the twenty-five coal producing states, the Appalachian region, Western Basins (2016, tons, Data Courtesy of Energy Information Administration (EIA) State Profile and Energy Estimates)

Mapping Coal and Fracking

The below map depicts parcels owned by coal mining companies in the Ohio counties of Belmont, Noble, Guernsey, and Muskingum, as well as previously mined and/or potential parcels based on owner and proximity to existing mines.

We also incorporated production data (2001 to 2016) for 116 surface and strip coal mines in these and surrounding counties, natural gas pipelines, hydraulically fractured laterals, and Class II Salt Water Disposal (SWD) injection wells as of January 2018.

There are few areas in the United States where underground coal mining and fracking are taking place simultaneously and on top of each other. What could possibly go wrong when injecting massive amounts of fracking waste at high pressures into the geology below, while simultaneously pumping billions of gallons of water into hydraulically fractured laterals and mining coal at similar depths?

In the coming months and years we will be monitoring Belmont County, Ohio as an unfortunate case-study in determining the answer to such a unique question.

At the present time:

  • Murray Energy, its subsidiaries, and other coal companies own approximately 15% of Belmont County.
  • Coal companies and their associated real-estate firms and subsidiaries have mined or own approximately 5,615 square miles across the Noble, Belmont, Guernsey, and Muskingum counties.
  • The 116 mines in this map have mined an average of 3.22 million tons of coal since 2001 and more than 373 million tons in total. Mr. Murray’s mines account for 50% of this amount, producing nearly 15 times more coal per mine than the other 112 mines.

Collectively, these mines have contributed 1.09 billion tons of CO2 and CH4+N2O in CO2 equivalents to atmospheric climate change, or 68 million tons per year (MTPY). This volume is equivalent to the annual emissions of nearly 60 million Americans or 19% of the population.

Murray’s mines alone have contributed enough greenhouse gases (CO2+CH4+N2O) to account for the emissions of 9.2% of the US population since 2001. Each Murray mine is belching out 8.41 million tons of greenhouse gases per year or roughly equivalent to the emissions of 463,489 Americans.


View map fullscreen | How FracTracker maps work

Relevant data for this map can be found at the end of this article.

Broader Implications

Robert Murray’s influence and mining impacts extend well beyond Appalachian Ohio.

Mr. Murray’s is the primary owner of 157 mines and associated facilities1 across eleven states – and five of the six major Lower 48 coal provinces – from Utah and North Dakota to Alabama, Georgia, and Florida (Figure 3). Mr. Murray likes to highlight his sage purchases of prime medium and high volatility bituminous coal real-estate over the years on his company’s website. However, nowhere in his corporate overview does he mention his most notorious mine: the abandoned and sealed underground Crandal Canyon Mine, Emery County, Utah. It was at this mine on August 6, 2007 that a collapse trapped six miners and resulted in their deaths, along with the deaths of three rescue workers. Mr. Murray told the BBC that he had had an emotional breakdown and hadn’t deserted anyone living in a little trailer adjacent to the mine’s entrance every day following the collapse. Furthermore, Mr. Murray blames such events on subsidiaries like Grenwal Resources Inc., which happens to be the owner of record for the Crandal Canyon Mine and is one of thirty-three unique subsidiaries owned by Mr. Murray (data download).

US Coal Mines and Mines Owned by Robert Murray

Figure 3. US Coal Mines by type and Mines Owned by Robert Murray highlighted in turquoise

Table 1. Robert Murray coal mine ownership by mine status

Status Number of Mines
Abandoned 68
Abandoned and Sealed 62
Active 12
Non-Producing 10
Temporarily Idled 5
Total 157

The Politics of Energy

Robert Murray and his fellow fossil fuel energy brethren’s bet on Trump paid off, with Trump winning 99% of the vote in congressional districts where coal mines exist (Figure 4). Such a performance bested the previous GOP candidates of McCain and Romney even though they had achieved an impressive 96% of the vote. Interestingly, Trump did nearly as well in congressional districts dominated by wind farms and ethanol refineries where more than 87% of the electorate was white.

Percent of Energy Infrastructure in Congressional Districts that went for GOP Presidential Candidates in 2016, 2012, and 2008

Figure 4. Presidential election results for GOP candidates in voting districts where various forms of energy are produced and/or processed, 2016, 2012, and 2008

Trump & Co. promised these districts that his administration would breathe life into the fossil fuel industry. True, Trump, Pruitt, Perry, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke are greasing the skids for the industry’s revival. In terms of annual production, however, it is far from certain that such moves will translate into the types of boost in employment promised by Trump during the 2016 campaign. Even if production does return, executives like Murray admit that the advent of efficiencies and extraction technologies means that the industry is mining more coal per miner than ever before:

“Trump has consistently pledged to restore mining jobs, but many of those jobs were lost to technology rather than regulation and to competition from natural gas and renewables, which makes it unlikely that he can do much to significantly grow the number of jobs in the industry,” said Murray. “I suggested that he temper his expectations. Those are my exact words,” said Murray. “He can’t bring them back.” – The Guardian, March 27, 2017

Conclusions and Next Steps

It remains to be seen how the coal mining and fracking industry’s battle for supremacy will play out from a socioeconomic, health, environmental, and regulatory perspective. While many people understand that coal jobs aren’t coming back, we shouldn’t doubt the will of the Trump administration and friends like Robert Murray to make sure that profits can still be extracted from Appalachia.

Will the fracking industry and coal barons agree to get along, or will they wage a war on multiple fronts to marginalize the other side? Will this be another natural resource conflagration? If so, how will the people – and species like the “near-threatened” Hellbender Salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) or the region’s recovering Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) population that live in the disputed Appalachian communities respond? How will their already stressed day-to-day existence be affected? To this point, the fossil fuel industry has managed to blame everyone but itself for the tepid to non-existent job growth in their sectors.

The Appalachian landscape has been deeply scarred and fragmented by coal mining, and now it is experiencing a new colonizing force in the form of the hydraulic fracturing industry. When Appalachia realizes that automation, globalization, and natural gas, are the key drivers to the downfall of coal, will they bring fire, brimstone, and pitchforks to the doorstep of Murray Energy of the fracking companies? Or is Appalachia’s future merely that of an extraction colony?

Oh Say, did you see him; it was early this morning.
He passed by your houses on his way to the coal.
He was tall, he was slender, and his dark eyes so tender
His occupation was mining, West Virginia his home
It was just before noon, I was feeding the children,
Ben Moseley came running to give us the news.
Number eight was all flooded, many men were in danger
And we don’t know their number, but we fear they’re all doomed.
– “West Virginia Mine Disaster” © Jean Ritchie, Geordie Music Publishing


By Ted Auch, Great Lakes Program Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance

Endnote

  1. Murray is listed as the owner of 45 coal mining facilities, 35 surface mines, and 77 underground mines according to data compiled from the Department of Labor

Download Relevant Data (Zip Files)

FracTracker banner and mission - Please consider a donation this holiday season

Please consider supporting FracTracker Alliance this holiday season

Often times it can be difficult to clearly communicate the impact that FracTracker has had on communities concerned about the impacts of the oil and gas industry, or the benefits the data we provide offer to researchers and journalists investigating the links between this activity and a variety of issues. As such, I will let these recent testimonials say it better – and more concisely – than I can:

I came across the FracTracker Alliance website and related maps about a month ago and have found them really useful in developing a new research project… In particular, the work on silica mining is really fascinating.
G. Pickren, Chicago, IL

Thanks for all that FracTracker does… the Mariner East 2 spill map is so very helpful for small struggling grass roots groups like Lebanon Pipeline Awareness!
– A. Pinca, Annville, PA

Your work at the FracTracker Alliance is first-rate. Your presence on the panel brought your unique insights and experience to the audience in a truly meaningful way… You empowered and inspired those in attendance.
– D. Shields, Pittsburgh, PA

Whether it was the spring launch of our powerful mobile app, the summer release of a national map of farming vs. fracking, or our fall event to bestow three heroes with the Community Sentinel Award for Environmental Stewardship, every day and every season FracTracker is there providing insights that empower action.

To perpetuate our invaluable services, will you consider a year-end gift? Please donate today and help us nurture a clean, hope-filled future for all.

Thank you for entrusting us with your gift. Best wishes for a peaceful, joyous holiday season!

Appreciatively,
Brook Lenker
Executive Director

Support FracTracker
Map of the Standing Rock protest - Oil is flowing through the DAPL, but the Standing Rock Lakota Sioux Tribe have challenged the permit and are petitioning for the release of Chase Iron Eyes

An Ongoing Fight at Standing Rock

We live in a complex environment of local, regional, national, and international issues. We are constantly bombarded with a news cycle that regenerates at increasingly dizzying speeds. How can we possibly know what is truly important when hyped up twitter controversies clog up our news feeds?

In this quantity-over-quality culture, many of the most important issues and fights for civil rights and energy justice become casualties of a regression to ignorance.

At FracTracker, we disagree with this tactic – especially as it relates to the protests at Standing Rock. FracTracker has previously written about these demonstrations (shown in the map above), and has also analyzed and mapped data on oil spills from pipelines in North Dakota. We will continue FracTracker’s coverage of Standing Rock and the Water Protectors who fought – and continue to fight – the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), known as the Black Snake.

Following the Fight

For those unaware, the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline operated by Energy Transfer Partners, continues. While the project was green-lighted by the Trump Administration and Bakken oil began flowing in June of 2017, the court has returned the permits to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A U.S. District Court judge ruled that the initial approval of the pipeline did not undergo adequate study of its environmental consequences. The finding stated that the Army Corps provided a flawed model, inadequate for predicting the full impacts of a leak under Lake Oahe. The model does not consider what would happen in the event of a leak under the lake. It models only benzene — one of many toxic chemicals present in crude oil — and models its movement in an unrealistic manner. Energy Transfer Partners claims the model is conservative, but it massively underestimates the potential impacts on human health and wildlife. The Army Corps provides no plan to contain an underground leak or clean contaminated soil and groundwater under Lake Oahe.

On a related note, DAPL’s parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, said in a recent annual report that it may not have sufficient liquid assets to finance a major cleanup project and would likely pass those costs onto local landowners and federal taxpayers. Energy Transfer Partners has since filed a racketeering lawsuit seeking $300 million in damages from the Red Warrior Camp at Standing Rock.

Upon finding the Army Corps’s model inadequate, the court returned the permits for further review. According to EarthJustice attorney Jan Hassleman:

… the agency could simply revise or update its environmental review and again conclude that no EIS (environmental impact statement) is required. If that happens, additional legal challenges are likely. The Tribe believes this court decision should trigger a full EIS, including consideration of route alternatives, just as the Obama administration proposed in December.

Normally, when a permit is issued in violation of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), operations are suspended, which would have forced the DAPL to shut down while the review is conducted. Contrary to the usual protocol, on October 11, 2017 a federal judge ruled that the pipeline will remain operational pending the environmental review by the Army Corps. Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II has said in a statement, however, “Just because the oil is flowing now doesn’t mean that it can’t be stopped.”

More Information and Resources

The Lakota People’s Law Project (LPLP) has been a resource to Lakota country – an area comprised of nine Indian reservation in North and South Dakota – since 2004.  The LPLP supports a number of campaigns including divestment and energy justice, and has published several reports:

Special thanks to the Lakota People’s Law Project and Rachel Hallett-Ralston for the information provided.

In January of 2017, 76 Water Protectors including Chase Iron Eyes were arrested on land granted to the Standing Rock Lakota Sioux Tribe under the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. Chase Iron Eyes, Lead Counsel of the Lakota People’s Law Project, has been charged with felony incitement to riot and misdemeanor criminal trespass. In the interview above, Chase Iron Eyes discusses his involvement with Standing Rock and the political pressures to make an example out of him. Read the Lakota People’s Law Project petition here.


By Kyle Ferrar, Western Program Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance

The feature image is a snapshot of our Standing Rock Protest Map, created last year.

Downtown Pittsburgh, PA - Photo by Brook Lenker after Climate Reality Project in 2017

Empowered by Reality – Reflections on Climate Reality

In October, Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project invigorated Pittsburgh like an autumn breeze. Never before had 1,400 people assembled in the region for the shared purpose of solving the climate crisis. The ground almost shook from the positive energy. It was induced seismicity of a better kind.

About the Climate Reality Project

The event occupied the David Lawrence Convention Center, a LEED Platinum facility providing the ultimate venue for a training session about saving our planet. The Nobel Laureate and former Vice President, joined by notable scientists, dignitaries, and communication experts, peppered three-days with passion and insight. The participants – who had to complete a rigorous application to attend – came from Pennsylvania, other states, and other countries. Their backgrounds were as diverse as their geographic origins. Seasoned activists were joined by faith leaders, students, educators, researchers, philanthropists, public health professionals, and business persons. A deep concern about humanity’s future was the common bond.

Together, we comprised the largest Climate Leadership Corps class ever. There are now more than 13,000 well-prepared voices speaking truth to power around the world to accelerate clean energy and foster sustainability. The ranks will continue to rise.

Unequivocal facts and figures affirmed that time is running out unless we expedite our energy transition. Most people don’t question gravity, but some question climate change despite scientific certainty about both. Jumping off a cliff is deadly and so is leaping off the metaphorical cliff of denial. When it comes to these issues, we were taught to find and focus on shared values. Everyone, even the cynic, cares about a person, place, or thing that will be irrevocably affected by man-made climate chaos.

Good for the planet, people, and jobs

Everyone needs a job, and embracing renewables and building smart, efficient energy systems creates a lot of them. In the U.S., solar energy jobs are growing 17 times faster than the overall economy.[1] Today, there are over 2.6 million Americans employed in the solar, wind, and energy efficiency sectors.[2] These safe, well-paying positions will continue to grow over time, but they’ll grow faster if government at every scale accelerates the new economy with supportive policies, programs, decisions and resources. In the process, we’ll build wealth and opportunity. If we don’t do what’s needed and its fossil fuel business as usual, we’ll have polluted air, sickened landscapes, and an economy in decline.

Hope – a bridge to somewhere better

On the afternoon that training ends, the weather is unusually warm and has been for days, another reminder that normal is long gone. Hope fills the void. I walk the Rachel Carson Bridge, named for the conservation giant who warned of the dangers of putting unfettered profit before the good of people and nature. Atop her bridge, wind turbines whirl, whispering intelligent tidings to all who will listen.

If you’d like to schedule a hope-filled climate reality project presentation in your community, please contact us at info@fractracker.org


References

  1. The Solar Foundation, Solar Accounts for 1 in 50 New U.S. Jobs in 2016, February 7, 2017.
  2. Environmental Entrepreneurs, 3 Million Clean Energy Jobs in America, February 2017.
Help us in addressing pressing energy issues

Help us investigate pressing energy issues by donating to FracTracker’s Annual Fund

Dear Friends,

David Braun discussing pressing energy issues

David Braun, FracTracker’s Honorary Annual Fund Chair, at a climate revolution rally in Los Angeles – Photo by Bryan Giardinelli

I’ve been fighting fracking for many years, in fact, it seems like a lifetime. I helped win the fracking ban in New York, organize coalitions like Americans Against Fracking and Californians Against Fracking, and, more recently, coordinate a major campaign called Oil Money Out – aimed at getting California politicians and Governor Jerry Brown to reject campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, and instead prioritize public health. The work never stops, but we’re making critical headway.

Less than a year ago, I joined the board of FracTracker Alliance. Their maps, data, and insights are invaluable in my advocacy and in the efforts of so many other organizations addressing pressing energy issues. The FracTracker mobile app is a powerful tool to document the harms occurring in too many communities. Their small but mighty staff is passionate about what they do, and they’re good at it. They’re well-versed in the concerns and threats emblematic of oil and gas development.

As a vocal front-line advocate for better energy, FracTracker’s often behind-the-scenes work may not seem congruent with my methods, but the organization is an ally – a group who understands the synergy of collaboration. They work with people across the country on pressing issues: pipelines, sand mines, injection wells, ethane crackers. The list goes on.

Like other groups, they need ample resources to continue informing the public and serving the movement. I’m proud to be their honorary annual fund chair for the current fiscal year.

We need your help in reaching our goal of raising $25,000.

We know there are many worthy efforts competing for your donations, but every contribution to FracTracker – big or small  – means a lot and gets us closer to our goal.

FracTracker seeks and treats donors respectfully. You won’t get nagged, but you will be rewarded with their hard work. Just check out their website and bear witness to their reach and impact. Please donate today.

If I need the best data or a provocative map, I go to FracTracker. If I need a photo to hit home a point, I can find one on the FracTracker image library. The testimonials from my peers pushing back on extreme energy attest: FracTracker is a force we can depend on.

Please help sustain their work with a personal donation.

“The times they are a changing” because of people like you who care. Thanks for fueling the momentum. Together, we’ll change the world.

In solidarity and appreciation,
David Braun

Donate Online

Please make a donation to FracTracker’s Annual Fund today

Lofoten Declaration heading

A Declaration of Independence – FracTracker signs the Lofoten Declaration

FracTracker Alliance is proud to be a signatory of the Lofoten Declaration. It is a global call – signed by over 220 organizations from 55 countries – to put an end to exploration and expansion of new fossil fuel reserves and manage the decline of oil, coal, and gas in a just transition to a safer climate future.

It is also a call to prioritize support for communities on the front lines of climate change and fossil fuel extraction, and ideally a helpful tool to rally our global movement around the worldwide grassroots efforts to stop fossil fuel projects.

Wealthy fossil fuel producers like the United States have an obligation and responsibility to lead in putting an end to fossil fuel exploitation. Support for impacted regions is imperative, and frontline communities are the leaders we must look to as we all work together for a safer future.

The recent inundation of southeastern Texas, raging fires in the west, and ravaging hurricanes in the Atlantic underscore the dangers wrought by climate change. We need more action and we need it to be rapid, comprehensive, and systemic. Countries can’t be climate leaders until they tackle fossil fuel production – not just consumption.

The Lofoten Declaration is a new affirmation of independence: a world free from the injustice of extractive energy. It is a bold, righteous pronouncement in step with the courageous and visionary traditions of our nation.

With more than 1.2 million active oil and gas wells and thousands more planned, now is the time for America to change its old, tired habits and flex its might through the virtuous power of example.

Full Declaration and Signatories: LofotenDeclaration.org