Denton folks Michael Hennen and Susan Vaughan campaign to ban fracking
The fracking ban that came into effect on Tuesday in the heart of Texas might never have happened at all, if industry had not insisted on fracking beside a local hospital, a children’s playground, and the 100-year-old farmhouse that was Cathy McMullen’s retirement dream.
That brought fracking a step too far. McMullen believes such overreach – typical under the Texas regulatory framework – helped turn a ruby-red Republican town against fracking.
Despite industry objections – and death threats for McMullen and other activists, Denton voted by 60% to ban fracking last month. The victorious activists like to call their fight David v Godzilla, because the oil industry is so powerful in Texas. That fight is not over yet.
George P Bush, the nephew and grandson of the former presidents, will soon take charge of the General Land Office – one of two Texas state agencies that have joined an industry lawsuit to overturn the ban.
But McMullen and the small group of mainly female activists behind the ban are already inspiring towns in Texas and elsewhere that are looking for ways to rein in an industry that so far has enjoyed supreme rights to frack.
The oil and gas companies probably would be fracking still in Denton if they had not completely dismissed McMullen’s concerns, she said.
“They underestimated us completely,” she said. “I think they all just thought: ‘Oh, it’s just Cathy.’ I don’t think they saw the storm clouds on the horizon, and that industry was creating this storm, and that it was going to blow into town, and everybody was just sick of it.”
RTFA. It’s a great tale of ordinary folks not especially political in their daily life – until they asked questions, tried as citizens of the United States and that supersized state of Texas to bring back the quality of life they had – before fracking started in the city limits of Denton, Texas.
Their victory has inspired others. Something the Godzillas of fossil fuel hate as much as an individual like Cathy McMullen winning her fight in Denton. Now, Reno, Texas, is cranking up the alarm of opposition to fracking in their small Texas town.
And they have to get things done on their own – just like in Denton. If there’s anything that the Oil Patch Boys own in Texas – it’s politicians.
Thanks, Mike — GMTA
Eideard 
Round 2 (or 3) continues in Mora, NM. After being the first county in the country to ban fracking the expected onslaught gathered strength, called in all the favors from tame politicians – Democrat and Republican. Like most modern gangsters, the oil barons working New Mexico spread their payoffs between both parties. Though, at present, they have a bonus in the shape of a governor who trots around the state doing little smiley photo-ops in schools – while screwing teachers and pupils alike. And does little else. Governor Susana is owned lock, stock and barrel by the Oil Patch Boys.
Therefore, her flunkies offer the beleaguered folks in Mora all sorts of expert advice on why their attempt to ban fracking is unconstitutional. Hogwash! Fortunately, most folks in northern NM support their fight.
Plunging oil prices caused a drop of almost 40 percent in new well permits issued across the U.S. in November, in a sudden pause in the growth of the U.S. shale oil and gas boom that started around 2007. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/02/us-usa-oil-permits-idUSKCN0JG2C120141202 Also, “According to DrillingInfo, an industry data firm, permits for new wells dropped 15 percent across 12 major shale formations in October, after doubling in the period since last November.
Permit issues are an early indication of drilling activity, and as such, can be seen as a talisman of future production. Visualized as a lineup of falling dominoes, the oil price falls first, followed by drilling permits, oil rig counts, and finally, production levels.” http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Shale-Permits-Fall-As-Low-Oil-Prices-Start-To-Bite.html
The Cuomo administration announced today that it would ban hydraulic fracturing in New York State, ending years of uncertainty by concluding that the controversial method of extracting gas from deep underground could contaminate the state’s air and water and pose inestimable public-health risks. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/nyregion/cuomo-to-ban-fracking-in-new-york-state-citing-health-risks.html