So a bunch of concerned citizens of all stripes came out to Oakland yesterday to talk some fracking sense.
More specifically, according to 350.org's count, over 8,000 of us marched...
and gathered to call for a ban on fracking in California. To me, it seemed like a sea of people.
The message was, specifically, for Governor Jerry Brown to put the kibosh on fracking...
but more broadly, to use his smarts when it comes to California's energy policy.
The good thing is that we know Governor Brown is a smart and caring guy who just called for expansive new environmental regulations and ambitious cuts to carbon emissions in his recent inaugural speech. We also know that Jerry knows something about We the People.
The problem is that in the frack-of-war between The Oil Barons and The People, Jerry is currently being pulled dangerously close to the barrel.
photo by kimoconnor
The oil industry seems to have planted enough $eed$ in Governor Brown's head to make him believe in the fairy tale that hydraulic fracturing for natural gas is a climate-friendly alternative to coal and oil. However, when you pull the curtain on all the flowery clean-gas talk and do an honest accounting, you quickly realize that the combined effects of toxicity and greenhouse gas emissions from fracking are no better if not worse than coal and oil.
The People have done the math and spelled out the simple equation for the Governor.
An equation whose effects rings way beyond California...
and whose messengers are intimately familiar with how this planet works...
It's time for Governor Brown to use his noggin and start whacking the oil demon...
put together the pieces of the puzzle...
so we can roll up our sleeves...
and get serious about real solutions.
More photos and bon mots below the orange drill bit...